“You will always need to create strong ties among the Public and Private Partnerships to develop a successful real state environment”, learned industry players on Monday.
A meeting was called out in Kigali where Walid Moussa, who is the acting president of the FIABC, was present along with other stakeholders belonging to the Rwanda real estate industry.
This meeting was organized to attract major industry participants such as property developers, architects, banking sector and financial institutions, educationists, and officials from the Rwanda housing society.
These industry participants wanted to get together and see what could be done to set up a strong foundation for Real Estate in the African subcontinent and establish a chapter in Rwanda. As of the current bases, the federation is present local in Tunisia, Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa.
The head of the federation in Africa, Joseph Akhigbe, was also present.
Current challenges
Century Real Estate’s Managing Director, Charles Haba says that there are loopholes that we need to address as well as cater to existing opportunities to ensure a viable Real estate ecosystem.
He was of the view that Africa needs to be a member of FIABC where it is lagging, and they need to be made aware of the many opportunities that will present themselves once they become a member.
FIABC currently is the world’s largest Real Estate Federation and works to build synergy and more possibilities for business in the same sector.
Besides acknowledging the fact that the sector presents better opportunities for a better future, Haba also fears that the sector lacks the needed exposure; skills, and capital knowledge that they direly need to develop the sector.
Rwanda continues to grow better economically, and therefore the Real Estate presents itself as a crucial sector with a lot of potentials. The FIABC was therefore hosted for the very reason, that is, to address existing opportunities and bridge any gaps that are barriers towards establishing the FIABC in Rwanda.
He added that this is important to teach the local markets the skills that they need and show them how the mature markets used these skill sets to achieve milestones in the sector.
Importance of a Strong Public and Private Partnership
Moussa was in the country for three days. While there, he learned and emphasized the importance of a vibrant sector and pressed the importance of developing and maintaining better public and private sector relationships.
He also requested the government to encourage partnerships among real estate stockholders and the entire property business. The Private and public sectors should be working head to head towards developing better practices that lay the best foundation for local and foreign investors.
The government should also first consult the private sector before they formulate policies for the Real Estate industry, observed Moussa, further adding that he has observed that the private sector is always the most practical and realistic with formulating policies. If the government tries to play the role all alone, it could end up in a cold war with the private sector, and common ground will not be achieved to formulate better policy regulation laws.
Moussa also observed the Vision City Project in Gacuriro, among other property projects in Kigali, and was confident about his opinion that the Real Estate business in Rwanda had the needed potential and opportunities to gain new investors.
At the end of his expedition, Moussa concluded that an investor needs to be shown that the mortgage market is flourishing within the country. There is enough security for them to start a business in the country. He will not have any second thoughts.
