Two Nigerian Malls make Sub-Saharan Africa’s top 5 malls

To the growing African middle class – especially those who frequently travel to Asia, Europe and the USA in search of the latest retail deals – shopping is serious business. But increasingly, a wide range of new shopping centres have been scaled up across Africa with governments forging partnerships to build even more. And if that was not enough to convince these upper-class jet setting shopaholics, now, a report says Africa has not one but five top shopping malls that have attracted and brought the foreign brands to their doorsteps.

“In sub-Saharan Africa, several shopping centres located in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya and Nigeria present high international standards and are ranked AA or A by Sagaci Research,” executives at MarketIntelligence firm Sagaci Research said. The company is dedicated to providing rich insights into most industries and consumer segments in African markets. The report presents a detailed picture of shopping centers across Africa’s fastest growing markets (with 29 countries across North and Sub-Saharan Africa researched). South Africa is conspicuously omitted from the scope probably because itsproperty industry is much more developed than the rest of sub-Saharan Africa – although Sagaci Research provides no reason why.

The Ikeja City Mall has an “A” ranking.

Based on shopping centre attractiveness for international brands, the top five shopping centres in sub-Saharan Africa are ranked as follows:–

Name of mall	Country	City	Gross leasable area (sqm)	Ranking
Sea Plaza	Senegal	Dakar	14,000	AA
Cap Sud	Ivory Coast	Abidjan	6,500	A
Ikeja City Mall	Nigeria	Lagos	22,650	A
Polo Park Mall	Nigeria	Enugu	20,000	A
The Junction	Kenya	Nairobi	26,000	A

Sagaci explains that “In the coming years, boosted by the emergence of a middle class and by the expansion of international brands, the total shopping centre surface should double…with 129 new shopping centres in project across the continent (including 17 in Egypt, 15 in Ghana, 14 in Zambia, 12 in Angola, 12 in Nigeria, 12 in Morocco). Beyond these projects, some countries such as Nigeria, Angola, Tanzania and Ethiopia remain very attractive for developers with an unmet demand of five to 20 shopping centres in each country between now and 2017.”

The publication also provides an analysis of the presence of international tenants in African shopping centres. A selected number of European and US brands – including Bata, Celio, Aldo, KFC, Adidas, Nike, Mango, Etam – are present in leading shopping centres in North and West Africa. South African brands – such as Shoprite, Woolworths, Truworths, Mr Price – historically well positioned in Southern and East Africa, are increasingly entering West African markets and compete head-to-head with European and US brands. It further supplies key operating data on 210+ existing shopping centres as well as 125+ projects across the continent by Location, GLA, number of stores, opening date, centre type, name of developer/investor, name of property manager et c., allowing for a quick understanding of who is active on the retail real estate market across Africa. 

Recently, a CNN Marketplace Africa edition revealed that Nigerians are the UK’s fourth biggest foreign spenders, ringing up an average of £500 in each shop where they make purchases – a figure that is four times what the average UK shopper spends. As African shopping malls become distinctly more attractive in price and product offerings, perhaps – at last – African shopaholics will stop trying to rival their European, American and Middle East counterparts.