This post is written by the Managing Director of Jumia House Ghana, Akua Nyame­ Mensah. She shares lessons from the Real Estate Summit jointly put together by Jumia House Ghana, Devtraco Limited and the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA).

Last month, we held our second Ghana focused real estate conference in partnership with Devtraco Limited. Each time we hold an event, I am amazed and humbled by the support we receive from people involved in the industry. I always learn a lot too. Here are some lessons from the conference I want to share with you:

1. The Government needs to reduce barriers for the production of large­scale housing. By providing opportunities for public­private partnerships and lower interest financing options, the government, can reduce the costs associated with being a developer. The Government realizes that the sector is an important part of the economy, but laws to help ‘regularize’ it are slowly making their way through the legal system. You can learn more about government’s involvement in the real estate sector by reading through the Keynote Speech of the summit given by Dr. Kwaku Agyemang­Mensah, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing.

2. There are still lots of opportunities in the sector. During the second session of the day, different groups of real estate stakeholders conducted a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the sector. All of the groups were quite positive and pointed to the large housing deficit as an opportunity. Less than 10% of homes are built by developers each year, meaning with the right policies and incentives in place, developers will win big and so will the economy with additional employment opportunities related to the industry. The thorough SWOT analysis presentation
done by Delores Sekyere of Ghana Prime Properties will give you an idea of the growth of the sector.

3. We need to share more. One major issue brought up in the majority of the presentations was the lack of reliable and up­to­date data. We can work together to ensure that we are collecting the right information and share it so everyone can benefit and learn. Conferences like the one we hosted in April are just a starting point. Dr. Kwadwo Ohene Sarfoh takes us through much of the data we have available and what else we need to gather in his presentation entitled ‘The Way Forward.’

Thank you to everyone who participated and attended to make the event a success. We look forward to hosting another great event next year. If you are interested in being involved, please do get in touch. You can access many of the presentations done at the conference via our conference website. You can also view our 2014 white paper here.