Global surveyors’ body to open regional office in Nairobi

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) is set to open a Nairobi office to serve as its regional headquarters.

The international association for quantity surveyors with over 150,000 members says the regional office is meant to introduce global standards to the local real estate market.

Rics says adoption of internationally accepted standards is meant to bring more transparency in the real-estate market and make it easier for comparisons between markets.

Standards in ethics and property measurability are key factors that investors look at when deciding on markets to enter.

The Nairobi-based office should be up and running in around six months. “We are currently recruiting a director for Africa who will be based in Kenya and once we have that person we will set up an office,” Rics (EMEA) managing director Mark Walley told the Business Daily at an African real estate summit held late last week in Johannesburg.

Kenya will be the association’s third office in Africa after Ghana and South Africa. They serve the western and southern African markets respectively.

Mr Walley said since Kenyan quantity surveying standards are not significantly different from those required by Rics, attaining membership will not be difficult.

Kenyan quantity surveyors wanting to join the international body should have at least five years of experience and have a good reputation.

International real-estate players in the meanwhile say growth of the general economy is is just one factor investors are looking at while making investment decisions. Others are levels crime, corruption and government bureaucracy.

“Pension firms are moving from equities and bonds to real estate but investors are still going to where there is openness and transparency,” said Vincent Lottefier, global chief executive (EMEA corporate solutions) at real-estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

In August 2014 Jones Lang LaSalle ranked Kenya at position 55 in transparency, which was an improvement from position 67 a year earlier.

The index placed Kenya in the semi-transparent category. Countries are grouped into highly transparent, transparent, semi-transparent, low transparency and opaque. Participants at the conference said the biggest investment opportunities in Kenya are mainly in infrastructure, energy and retail.

Economists at Stanlib expect the general economy to grow by 6 and 6.5 per cent in 2015 helped by investment in energy, infrastructure, growth of retail and fall in the global oil prices.

The plan to construct 10,000 kilometres through the roads annuity programme, adding 5000 megawatts over the next three year, and the standard gauge railway are some of the on-going big infrastructure projects.

READ: Tenders for 10,000km roads plan to be awarded next week

Stanlib also said the relative stability of the shilling against major currencies is making the local market more attractive relative to its peers in the region.

Rapid urbanisation is on top expected to attract major brands and retailers to the local market.