Kampala City Among Fastest Growing Urban Areas in Africa

A new shopping center report released this month by Knight Frank published on AllAfrica has ranked Kampala among the fastest growing cities in Africa.

The Shop Africa Report states that Africa’s population has more than doubled over the last 30 years to just over 1.1 billion and projects urban dwellers as the majority on the continent by 2040.

According to the report, Kampala has 128,000 square metres of shopping space in the pipeline. Real estate developers are building one-stop centers where people can shop, work and live in the same place.

“At a population of 1.9 million, Kampala has an existing mall space of 182,000 sq. metres occupied by already opened malls. Garden City Shopping Mall stands at 25,000 sq. m, and Acacia Mall with 16,316 sq. m, with an additional space of 128,000 sq. m in the pipeline to be created by ongoing developments. Kingdom Kampala Mall has 42,000 sq. m and the Pearl Marina Estate Shopping Arcade has 20,000 sq. m,” the report reads in part.

The report also states that, “Over the long term, shopping centre development will go hand-in-hand with Africa’s increased urbanization and economic growth. As the sector grows and competition between retail schemes intensifies, developers will increasingly look for opportunities outside of the current hotspots and turn their attention to second and third tier cities, playing a major role in shaping the future landscapes of African cities.”

The report, which studied 47 African countries excluding South Africa which is estimated to have 23 million square metres of shopping centre space, cited Kampala, Dar es Salaam and Lusaka among the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the world.

The continent is experiencing a wave of modern mall development, a trend underpinned by long-term economic and demographic growth which is the fastest than any other region in the world.

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