The last batch of questions is still mostly unanswered, but in the last month’s posts there have been enough new questions for a new batch, so here it goes:
(1) Are there publicly traded securities that allows investors exposure to West African Real Estate? (As asked in the Fundamentals of the Property Market post )
I have looked around a while without even finding Mutual funds, ETFs or REITs aimed at African Real Estate. Mutual funds and ETFs aimed at Africa seem to be dominated by South Africa and natural resources and not very niched. Looks like Africa is enough of a niche in itself at the moment, but that’s likely to change in the future.
There are two real estate focused companies listed on Nigeria’s national stock exchange (UACN Property Development Co and Skye Shelter) but none of them have an ADR in New York which would make it easier to invest in them. On BRVM, the regional stock exchange for French-speaking West Africa, there doesn’t seem to be any real estate linked companies listed.
Looking outside Africa I found Chicago based private company Capri Capital llc which has a big stake in African Real Estate. Capri’s CEO Quintin Primo was interviewed in CNBCs show “Dollar and Danger: Africa, the Final Investing Frontier” from 2009 which I’d recommend (both the interview and the show).
(2) What are the deposit sizes asked for various parts of Abidjan? Is there a clear link: wealthier area -> lower deposit? (From the Deposits post )
It looks like it, but I’d like to have more data.
(3) How much new construction takes place in Abidjan, where, by whom and what’s its value?
As discussed in Fundamentals of the property market: Construction this question should be answerable. There’s got to be a few people at the United Nations/World Bank/IMF or at the Ivorian Ministry of Construction Urbanism and Habitat that have tried to compile numbers for the construction.
(4) How much does a taxi driver in a West African capital earn? (Portfolios of the Poor)
I recall one taxi driver saying that he aimed for 10,000 CFA Francs (15 €) each day. When he reached it he could drive home. I am not quite sure how accurate that number is as average daily turnover. Anyhow, then petrol needs to be deducted and depreciation if the driver is the owner, or a fee to the owner in case the driver is not the owner. I can’t quite put a number to any of these deductions.
(5) Who are my tenants in the studio apartment sin Yopougon and will they pay the rent? (Construction Completed)
Unlike, it seems, most other questions, this one should get a definite answer in the future.
I think taxi drivers have to pay their owners 20-25,000 a day plus diesel in Abidjan. Above that is for them (though of course if on previous days they haven’t met their totals this creates a debt to be paid out of future daily profits).
By: elephantsonline2 on June 3, 2010
at 15:06
Ok, 20-25,000, that’s a lot. I think the one I talked to who mentioned the 10,000 figure owned his car. Maybe he was showing off that he didnt need to work that much, I don’t know.
By: hotelivory on June 4, 2010
at 08:18
I will attempt an answer to two of your questions!
Deposit sizes are not usallyfixed in terms of money, but number of months. For a studion, you would expect 6 to 8 moths up front. A house/appartment 2 to 3 months.
From the last time I spoke about money to a taxi driver, that 10 000 is what he aims to take home. If he rents his taxi per day, then it is in the order of 25 – 35 000 per day, payable up front. He then pays for his petrol, currently nearly 800 CFA per litre.
By: Craig Hitchcock on June 4, 2010
at 14:46
Ok, thanks for the answers!
By: hotelivory on June 4, 2010
at 21:52
But we still don’t know how much they earn per month. If a driver actually manages to take home 10,000 per day, assuming he works 25 days per month, that would be 250,000 per month which seems a bit high – everybody would want to be a taxi driver! If this was the case I wouldnt have taxi drivers wanting to rent from me at 15,000 – they would want nicer accomodations.
By: hotelivory on June 5, 2010
at 06:50
[...] been a while since last time, but I used to collect unanswered questions that have come up in past blogposts. Here is a new [...]
By: Questions Batch 3 « Hotel Ivory on December 27, 2011
at 15:17