Real Estate & Construction

Rapid population growth, steadily increasing urbanisation and rising incomes – particularly among the middle class – have fuelled expansion in Nigeria’s real estate sector over the past decade, and are expected to continue to drive growth in the industry. While most segments have seen increased investment in recent years, the country remains undersupplied in virtually every area, particularly affordable housing, high-quality retail space and grade-A office space. Activity in Nigeria’s construction industry is expected to continue to rise for the foreseeable future, despite softening demand in a handful of segments due to exogenous factors. The supply and demand differential in the power generation and housing segments alone is expected to result in trillions of naira worth of federal- and state-led investments through 2020. At the same time, the industry faces a number of challenges, notably construction costs and security issues. This chapter contains an interview with Nick Lambert, Head of Complex and Emerging Markets, CBRE.