Workers in central Cape Town are putting the finishing touches on the 54-room Hemp Hotel, which is due to be completed in June.

“Hempcrete” blocks derived from the cannabis plant have been used to fill the building’s walls, supported by a concrete and cement structure.

Hemp bricks are becoming increasingly popular in the construction world thanks to their insulating, fire-resistant and climate-friendly properties.

Used notably in Europe for thermal renovation of existing buildings, the blocks are carbon negative – meaning their production sucks more planet-warming gases out of the atmosphere than it puts in.

“The plant absorbs the carbon, it gets put into a block and is then stored into a building for 50 years or longer,” explains Boshoff Muller, director of Afrimat Hemp, a subsidiary of South African construction group Afrimat, which produced the bricks for the hotel.

Source: The Business Times

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An armed group on Monday invaded a vast property owned by the family of former Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi on the Eastern Bypass.

The protesters, who were chanting Mau Mau slogans, could be heard saying that they too are Kenyans and deserve to own land just like the Kenyatta family.

When Nation reporters arrived at the scene a few minutes to 2pm, scores of people had already gained access to the property. Most of them were armed with crude weapons including freshly sharpened machetes and clubs. They could be seen carting away farm animals like sheep.

Nation crime reporter Steve Otieno was roughed up by the gang when they realised he was a journalist reporting the story of the invasion. They tore up his clothes and stole his phone.

Later, a camera crew from NTV that arrived in the area suffered the same fate as their vehicle was stoned by the violent looters.

The gang also burnt trees and bushes. Guards employed to take care of the land watched from a distance as the drama unfolded.

When the Nation team was leaving the scene it spotted a number of public service vehicles parked along Mwihoko-Githurai road, and was told by witnesses that the looters had arrived in them. Near the vehicles were two armed police officers. However, they did not intervene to stop the looting.

Spectre attack

Similarly, unknown vandals stormed the East Africa Spectre Limited which is associated with opposition leader Raila Odinga, the firm’s security boss Humphrey Waswa said in a statement on Monday.

The attack on the Odinga family-owned gas cylinder manufacturer came at around the same time as the raid on Kenyatta’s land.

East Africa Spectra, located on Road C in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, manufactures and distributes gas cylinders in Kenya and the region.

“At around 11.40am today in the morning, a group of around 50 people on motorbikes came around and attacked us and they were being supported by four unmarked vehicles. We suspect that their target was on our managing director because her office is the one that has been damaged,” said Mr Waswa.

Mr Waswa said the vandals destroyed the property of unknown value and pelted the firm’s managing director’s office with rocks. The opposition chief’s wife Ida Odinga is the company’s MD.

The security manager said the police responded swiftly and warded off the attackers.

Demos banned

On Sunday, police officers banned the demonstrations called by the opposition. Japheth Koome, the Inspector-General of Police, said Mr Odinga had not been granted permission to hold the protests.

“I ask all Kenyans to go on with their business as usual. We are out to ensure more officers are stationed in different parts of the city to deal with any chaos,” Mr Koome said.

He noted that police officers would not bow to intimidation and would instead work hard to keep the environment conducive for business.

Mr Koome accused the opposition of causing chaos, arguing there are other ways to have their grievances addressed.

After holding what he described as successful protests across the country on March 20, Mr Odinga announced he will lead Kenyans in nationwide demonstrations every Monday and Thursday.

The anti-government protests on Monday entered the second week as the opposition calls for the State to reduce the cost of living and push the electoral commission to open the election servers.

Allies of the ruling part UDA have in recent days accused former President of sponsoring the ongoing protests.

Source: The East African

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Investing in the commercial property sector in South Africa remains an excellent financial decision if you find the right opportunity.

This is according to Rainer Stenzhorn from In2assets, who acknowledged that the South African commercial property market has experienced many challenges in recent years.

These include low levels of investment and rental growth, which have been caused by economic and political uncertainty, as well as floods, unrest, looting, and COVID-19.

While this may paint a negative picture of the South African commercial property market, there are also many positive factors that should be considered.

For example, commercial property continues to offer a steady income stream thanks to rental income, and this property can appreciate over time, ensuring consistent capital growth.

This is particularly notable in South Africa as the country still has huge potential to grow its economy – which would cause commercial property values to rise significantly.

Stenzhorn noted that enormous opportunities exist for investment in sectors such as logistics and warehousing, as e-commerce continues to grow in popularity.

He added that moving forward, demand for commercial property is likely to remain strong in high-growth areas such as Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, while lower-growth areas may see more modest gains.

Among the investment properties up for auction on the 25^th of April include:

• A unique investment property with long-term blue-chip tenants in the sought-after area of Bedfordview, Gauteng, which presents an excellent opportunity for investors seeking to diversify their portfolios.
• A large industrial workshop with its own warehouse in Brits, bordering Gauteng, with a GLA of 12600m2, which offers a fantastic end-user opportunity in an area with easy access to the workforce.

Numerous lots such as hotels, industrial parks, industrial warehouses, cold-room facilities, retail and accommodation blocks, and office suites will be submitted to the same auction.

The auction will be livestreamed and bidders can participate from anywhere (locally, nationally, or internationally) on the In2assets website.

In2assets also offers an alternate sales platform called the Property Dealroom, a unique digital property vault.

The Property Dealroom is an exclusive trading platform which allows transactions to be conducted either confidentially or publicly.

One of the currently listed properties in the Property Dealroom is a large-scale Mpumalanga chicken farm with its own hatchery.

The 300ha farm is well equipped with all facilities to produce about 300,000 chickens a week.

Source: Business Tech

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Chairman of the Seeff Property Group, Samuel Seeff, said higher interest rates seen since November 2021 have driven property sales down.

Seeff’s comments come ahead of the repo rate announcement by the Reserve Bank on Thursday afternoon.

The repo rate rose from 3.5% at the end of 2021 to 7.25% currently.

The prime lending rate – the interest rate consumers pay back to commercial banks for loans currently sits at 10.75%.

This means it costs more for consumers to pay off their car and home loans.

Seeff said there has been an impact on the property market because of these factors.

“What we’ve seen is that the activity has decreased a little bit. Internet enquiries and people looking for properties has come off a little bit. We see generally that there has probably been a 10% reduction in the actual properties transferred over the last period.”

But he said the market remains stable.

“I think we do have to expect that there will be a lull given the interest rate increases but a reasonably priced property should still find a buyer.”

Source: EWN

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HousevAfrica, a Nigerian proptech startup, got $400,000 in funding to back its digitalization and transparency tools for real estate and also to increase its staff.

Sytemap.com, its flagship product, combines blockchain technology and maps to create a private land registry by buying and selling properties, allowing immediate land transaction authentication.

Over a hundred real estates companies, such as AlphaMead and Lead way Property

More than 100 real estate companies use the system, including AlphaMead and Leadway Properties.

The startup is backed by investors like ARM Labs, Future Africa, SSE Angel Network (SSEAN), CV VC, Rebel Seed CapitalNiche Capital, CapitalStartupbootcamp Afritech, Rebel Seed Capital, and others.

Source : Techin Africa

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The report, compiled by Henley & Partners and New World Wealth, shows that South Africa was home to 37 800 US dollar millionaires at the end of 2022.

At the current exchange rate, that means South Africa is home to 37 800 people with a fortune in excess of R18 million – and some change.

South Africa Has ‘lost’ 11 000 Millionaires

Ten years ago, New World Wealth recorded 48 800 millionaires living in South Africa, representing a drop of 11 000

The report also reveals that the ‘Big 5’ wealth markets in Africa – South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco – together account for 56% of Africa’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) and over 90% of the continent’s billionaires.

However, their continued dominance is far from assured and they could soon be challenged by the likes of Mauritius and Rwanda which are fast gaining ground.

Namibia’s new residence by investment offering positions it as a future potential rival as well.

In terms of millionaires, South Africa is followed by Egypt (16 100 millionaires), Nigeria (9 800), Kenya (7 700) and Morocco (5 800).

Mzansi also leads in the count of centi-millionaires – individuals with a net worth greater than $100 million – with 98 people falling into this category.

At the current exchange rate, that means South Africa is home to 98 people with a fortune in excess of R18 billion – and some change.

As reported by The South African website, Mzansi also has five dollar billionaires.

This is second to Egypt which has eight billionaires.

Wealthiest Cities and Residential Areas

Four of Africa’s top 10 wealthiest cities are in South Africa.

Johannesburg has the most millionaires in Africa with 14 600, Cairo (Egypt) is second with 7 400 resident HNWIs, just ahead of Cape Town in third place with 7 200.

Lagos (Nigeria) is in fourth position with 5 400 millionaires and Nairobi (Kenya) is fifth with 4 700.

The other two South African cities in the Top 10 are Durban (sixth) with 3 600 and Pretoria in eighth with 2 400.

South Africa is home to some of the world’s most upmarket residential areas including Clifton in Cape Town, Beachy Head Drive in Plettenberg Bay, and Sandhurst in Johannesburg.

According to New World Wealth’s latest figures, there are approximately 3 700 homes in South Africa that are valued at over $1 million (R18 million).

By this measure, South Africa ranks as one of the 20 largest prime residential markets in the world, well ahead of the other countries in Africa and in line with big emerging markets such as India and Brazil.

Source: The South African

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