_Online shopping and growing demand from retailers to drive Africa's modern logistics development
However, there is a growing recognition that the region’s key cities are undersupplied for modern logistics space.
Development activity is burgeoning, supported by demand for high quality space from retailers and consumer goods manufacturers seeking to expand their African operations and improve distribution networks and supply chains.
New developments opened in 2016 included York Commercial Park in the Zambian capital Lusaka and the Agility Distribution Park at the Port of Tema in Ghana. Both projects offer built-to-suit units of a quality previously unavailable in these markets.
The Ghanaian project is the first of a number of logistics parks that the Kuwaiti developer Agility plans to build across Africa, with Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Nigeria and Tanzania among its target markets.
Several major logistics and industrial parks are in the pipeline as part of wider urban developments such as Rendeavour’s Tatu City near Nairobi and Roma Park in Lusaka.
The areas around ports are also hotspots for logistics developers, as Africa’s reliance on sea transport for international trade means that its ports are crucial locations in firms’ logistics networks. Dubai’s DP World is notably active in the development and operation of ports and associated logistics property in Africa.
The future of African logistics property markets will be shaped by the impact of disruptive technologies.
Drones, for example, have the potential to help logistics operators overcome the deficiencies of African transport infrastructure, by enabling the movement of goods to locations without reliable road networks.
A system described as the world’s first commercial drone delivery service was launched in Rwanda by the US company Zipline in 2016.
The rise of online retailing will also shape logistics property markets going forward.
While small by global standards, Africa’s online retail sector has started to grow at a fast pace, driven primarily by the increased penetration of smart mobile devices. Pioneering online retailers such as Nigeria’s Jumia and Konga are building distribution networks that will require increasingly sophisticated logistics properties.