Uganda is set on the verge of constructing another mall- The Arena Mall. This news barely comes four months after the Imperial Mall in Entebbe opened for business.
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The new mega mall which is being is projected to cost a whooping US$50m and will be located at the intersection of Kibuli and Nsamba (Nsambya Traffic lights) – the former Uganda Railways quarters.
Ms Nnema Bryd, the Stanlib Investment principle confirmed the reports and said that approximately 50 per cent of the funding will be a loan from the Standard Bank Group and the rest of the amount will be received from Stanlib and Mr. Charles Odere’s equity.
“We are looking at leveraging this development at about 50 per cent. So we are looking at about US$ 24m for a senior loan for the construction period, which will be about 22 months and after that loan, gets converted into a term loan of five years. It will be provided by the Standard Bank Group.
The equity piece is coming in from the Stanlib Private Equity Fund alongside Mr Odere. Mr Odere’s contribution has been the land and additional cash. His equity stake will be about 20 per cent,” she explained.
Many companies have booked space in the mall including Shoprite, which will be the anchor tenant, Century Cinemax, Cafesserie, Adidas, Timberland, Café Java, Woolworths, KFC among others.
According to the developers, they are riding on the fact that the Kampala Flyover Project will be accessed near the Mall and are also counting on traffic to and from the proposed Southern Bypass in Munyonyo.
The ultramodern development aims at setting the standard in green buildings and sustainable design in Uganda and the entire East African region.
Stanlib is an asset management company based out of South Africa but with offices in Uganda.
