Ikeja City Mall ranks Top 3 Shopping Centres in Sub-Saharan Africa!

Ikeja City Mall has been ranked among the 3 top shopping centres in Sub-Saharan Africa!

According to Sagaci Research, a market intelligence firm specializing in providing insights into industries and consumer segments in African markets, a number of shopping centres in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Nigeria present high international standards and are therefore are ranked AA or A by Sagaci Research.

The Sagaci report presents a detailed picture of shopping centres across Africa’s fastest growing markets (with 29 countries across North and Sub-Saharan Africa researched).

South Africa is conspicuously missing from the list. 

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, and 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.