RICS Summit to focus on opportunities in real estate sector

T.C. Chetty, RICS country manager for South Africa

“We are excited to be hosting the RICS Africa Summit again, following the success of our inaugural Africa conference last year. The event, which takes the form of a power-packed one-day conference, preceded by a gala dinner the night before, is already fully booked,” says T.C. Chetty, RICS country manager for South Africa.

RICS is a global professional body that promotes and enforces the highest qualifications and standards in the areas of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure. As a public benefit organisation, it operates in all the world’s major financial hubs in delivering international standards and policy influence.

Unprecedented growth

“Sub-Saharan Africa has seen unprecedented growth over the last decade, becoming one of the fastest growing regions in the world. While current global financial conditions may put a dampener on this growth, sub-Saharan Africa’s emergence as the world’s next big consumer market will remain a huge positive force," comments Chetty.

"The interest shown in the RICS Africa Summit 2016 is no surprise. We are set for some robust discussions around the challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa, and importantly what can be done to overcome the challenges to ensure that opportunities are maximised.”

This year’s RICS Africa Summit keynote opening session by Stanlib’s Emerging Markets economist, Kganya Kgare, will set the tone for conference deliberations. Kgare will speak about investment flows and economic factors that the property sector in the region will need to consider. He will look at sub-Saharan Africa’s current economic performance and sustaining desired growth, as well as zone in on where investment is coming from and where is it going.

Kgare will then join the first panel discussion, which addresses strategies required for long-term, sustainable investment in sub-Saharan Africa’s real estate market. The panel includes Neville Mandimika, Africa analyst for Global Markets Research at Rand Merchant Bank, and Anthony Lewis, director for sub-Saharan Africa Capital Markets at Jones Lang LaSalle.

Panel debate

Another highlight speaker is Ada Mwangola, acting director of Social and Political Pillars for Kenya Vision 2030, who will speak on industry best practice and integrating standards and professionalism. Mwangola will then join a panel debate on understanding the current market and those that stand to secure business opportunities.

Other panelists will include Mark Walley, RICS’ regional managing director, EMEA; Francois Viruly, associate professor at the University of Cape Town’s Department of Construction Economics and Management; and, Gasant Jacobs, head of Business Development for sub-Sahara Africa at Thomson Reuters.

RICS chief executive officer, Sean Tompkins, will also be joining deliberations, together with Wafula Nabutola, RICS’ director for sub-Saharan Africa, and several members of RICS’ global leadership. Gugulethu Cele, a seasoned financial broadcaster and anchor at CNBC Africa will chair proceedings at the summit.