Boom in shopping malls in South Africa loses steam

The construction of new shopping malls in South Africa has tremendously declined; this is according to Accelerate Property Fund which is a is a listed property fund offering investors the opportunity to own high-quality properties across South Africa.

The Chief Operating Officer at Accelerate, Mr.  Andrew Costa, confirmed the reports and said that the decline of mall construction in the country should be worked on and assistance should be provided hence ensure that this market remains at equilibrium.

Online shopping

He further said that last year in 2015, the retail sector adapted to lackluster consumption expenditure with retailers consolidating stores, he continued to explain that the longer-term retail sector was also adapting to changing the retail patterns by introducing online shopping and a stronger emphasis by shoppers on better and convenient shopping.

A report by SA Council of Shopping Centres revealed that South Africa had the sixth-highest number of shopping centres of any country in the whole world.

Some of the malls including the project on the expansion of Fourways Mall to increase its capacity to 170 000m² of retail space is set for completion in 2018 and it will immensely classify it as a super regional shopping centre.

Fourways mall has been positioned as a new central business district, which was underpinned by the surrounding residential areas of Fourways Gardens, Dainfern and Steyn City. South Africa also boosts of Mall of Africa rated as one of the biggest in the country.

Rising debt levels

The creation of many malls generally in Africa have sprung up throughout the years creating thousands of jobs especially for the locals, however, they come along with a backdrop of rising debt levels.

In South Africa for example, almost half of all credit-active residents or equivalent 9.9 million people are highly indebted; this is according to debt counseling firm-Debt Rescue, the number is expected to swell as interest rates and inflation rise while the economy slows down.

Africa boosts of several malls for instance Two Rivers Mall and the Hub Karen in Kenya. Nigeria is also constructing what would, be upon completion, the biggest mall in the country. Decline in the construction of shopping malls in South Africa could signal decreased appetite from developers.