Two Rivers mall located in Nairobi. During the 12 months to June 201, a total of 41 malls were opened on the continent, with Lake Basin Mall in Kisumu, Kenya, being the largest among the new entrants. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Research shows that factors like urbanisation, population growth, increased interest from international retailers, changing consumer lifestyles and rising household incomes have boosted the growth of malls on the continent.
Today, Africa boasts 579 malls, up from 225 in 2010, with Egypt having the highest number at 106, followed by Kenya with 66 and Nigeria with 53.
Mall of Egypt is ranked as the leading mall in Africa, with another five malls all located in North Africa also attaining a grading of AAA.
Africa is witnessing a surge in the development of shopping malls, with numbers more than doubling over the past eight years.
A report by market intelligence firm Sagaci Research shows that factors like urbanisation, population growth, increased interest from international retailers, changing consumer lifestyles and rising household incomes have boosted the growth of malls on the continent.
Today, Africa boasts 579 malls, up from 225 in 2010, with Egypt having the highest number at 106, followed by Kenya with 66 and Nigeria with 53.
During the 12 months to June 201, a total of 41 malls were opened on the continent, with Lake Basin Mall in Kisumu, Kenya, being the largest among the new entrants.
“While malls were once largely confined to Africa’s largest cities, they are now proliferating in smaller urban centres,” says the sixth edition of the Shopping Malls in Africa report.
It adds that this trend is increasingly evident across the continent as malls strive to become places where consumers pass their leisure time, rather than just shop.
The total gross leasable area (GLA) of malls on the continent has reached eight million square metres, with North Africa accounting for two-fifths.
Three countries, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria, each have more than 500,000 square metres of leasable area.
Mall of Egypt is ranked as the leading mall in Africa, with another five malls all located in North Africa also attaining a grading of AAA.
In East Africa, only Two Rivers and The Hub Karen, both in Kenya, were ranked among top malls on the continent with grading of AA, joining another 14 malls in Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Mauritius and Djibouti.
According to the report, new mall development in Africa is currently concentrated in countries that already have a significant number of malls, particularly Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and Zambia.
There are 35 mall projects under construction or in planning in Egypt followed by 25 in Nigeria and 13 in Kenya.
“North and West Africa have the greatest potential for mall development, as many countries in these regions combine fairly low levels of GLA with rising levels of consumption,” stated the report.
In contrast, very little new development is planned in Southern or Central Africa, with Douala Grand Mall in Cameroon being the only notable exception.
Leading Malls in Africa excluding South Africa AAA Grading
