Investments are widely accepted as the matchless path to development. Real estate is as much a prerequisite for investment as are capital and labour. Nonetheless, relative progress in ensuring that arrangements concerning real estate are compatible with desired magnitudes of investments in Africa remains far from satisfactory. Treatment of real estate in the development literature remains tangential and incoherent. This volume explores why real estate policies in Africa have not worked well and examines how they can or should be more organised for efficient and successful outcomes. This book is essential reading for all interested in development economics, real estate economics and African studies.

This book brings together a broad range of research that interrogates how real estate market analysis, finance, planning, and investment for residential and commercial developments across the African continent are undertaken. In the past two decades, African real estate markets have rapidly matured, creating the conditions for new investment opportunities which has increased the demand for a deeper understanding of the commercial and residential markets across the continent. The chapters consider issues that pertain to formal real estate markets and the critical relationship between formal and informal property markets on the continent. With contributing authors from South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, the book considers the achievements of African real estate markets while also highlighting the complex central themes such as underdeveloped land tenure arrangements, the availability of finance in both the commercial and residential sectors, rapidly growing urban areas, and inadequate professional skills. This book is essential reading for students in real estate, land management, planning, finance, development, and economics programs who need to understand the nuances of markets in the African context. Investors and policy makers will learn a lot reading this book too.

In this essay, Dr. Ramachandran examines the constraints to private sector growth in Sub- Saharan Africa. She addresses two sets of issues--the constraints on firm-level productivity and the barriers to investment in the private sector. Focusing on the manufacturing sector, the author identifies and analyzes several key problems that are responsible for low productivity and investment levels in Africa. Finally, she outlines policies that may lead to the improvement of productivity and investment levels, and the role of national and international agencies in promoting these strategies. The author begins by comparing manufacturing sector productivity across developing countries and then examines some of the reasons for the gap between African productivity and that of the rest of the developing world. The key questions with regard to the productivity gap include the following: Can African labor compete with labor from other developing countries? Is the vintage of capital equipment a barrier to raising productivity? How can African firms build export capacity and become competitive in global markets? What types of firms are growing the fastest in Africa? How efficient is the market for credit in the private sector and how does this impact firm-level productivity? Recognizing that Africa's potential to attract private sector investment is at the heart of its ability to achieve a high rate of economic growth, the author identifies some of the major problems faced by investors in the private sector. In particular, she focuses on foreign direct investment because of its critical role in generating growth in the early stages of industrial development. By using case studies and othermaterial, she examines foreign investment trends in Africa, the impact of this investment in terms of output and employment, and the problems faced by new investors in Sub-Saharan Africa. The author concludes with specific recommendations for generating growth in the private sector and for improving productivity and investment levels in Africa. Finally, she suggests concrete steps that national and international policymakers can take to improve the climate for investment in Africa.