Chief Executive Officer, IREP Nigeria, Erejuwa Gbadebo (left); Managing Director, IREP Holdings, Kenny McCrae and Executive Director, IREP Nigeria /Group Managing Director, Alpha Mead Group, Femi Akintunde at the unveiling of IREP Nigeria in Lagos
In a move projected by real estate analysts to disrupt market status quo in the near future, International Real Estate Partners (IREP) has been launched into Nigeria’s property market to offer end-to-end real estate solutions to corporate tenants.
The new firm says it will leverage on its strategic alliance with IREP Holdings – a reputable Global Real Estate service firm – to demystify the regular challenges that characterise the commercial segment of property market by offering bespoke real estate solutions that cut across transactional management, project management and trans-border facilities management to prospective tenants.
“Our mission in Nigeria’s real estate market is quite simple but strategic; mirror global standards to deliver value driven real estate solutions that significantly impacts the bottom line of every business that interfaces with IREP” Chief Executive Officer, IREP Nigeria, Mrs. Erejuwa Gbadebo, said at a press conference to herald the new firm in Lagos.
Erejuwa explained that with the property market set to gain momentum in the near future, the need to offer savvy investors, asset owners and corporate tenants bespoke services that speaks to the needs of the local environment but equally aligns with global best standards has become even more imperative.
Collaborating Erejuwa’s claim, Mr. Kenny McCrae, Managing Director, IREP Holdings, Dubai, enthused that IREP Nigeria has been structured to execute its operations, transact its businesses and deliver its unique service offering with tremendous support from the parent company.
“Given our rich background and interaction in the global space, and having been closely associated with the Nigerian real estate sector for over a decade, we clearly understand the opportunities and challenges associated with the West African Real Estate market especially Nigeria, however, we are not deterred by the limitations, rather we believe our best-in-class service, which has soared our client portfolio in recent times, will distinguish us from our contemporaries in the marketplace.” McCrae said.
Speaking on the need for international Real Estate service providers such IREP to participate fully in the commercial segment of the property market, Femi Akintunde, Group Managing Director, Alpha Mead Group and Director IREP explained that Nigeria has become a critical component of the Global Real Estate market owing to the government’s commitment to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country.
“While the government continues to make frantic to effort to lure FDIs into the country, the onus is on us as professionals to live up to the expectation of these foreign firms from a real estate perspective,” Akintude said.
According to him, there are an appreciable number of global transactions in the Real Estate market worldwide but it’s quite disturbing that Sub Saharan African is often seen as the black box in the scheme of things, as the players in the country’s Real Estate scene have been slow to position the quality of their service to reflect global best practices.
“This limitation informed our decision to partner with IREP which has the right pedigree, platform, network, focus to deliver premium Real Estate support services to clients across all sectors of the economy”, Engr. Akintunde further explained.
To him, this partnership is a strategic one for the Alpha Mead Group, because it collaborates the Group’s position to be a business entity that specializes in providing a quality, safe, secured and comfortable living and operating environment in terms of residential, office space, retail malls etc.
“For us, we consider this as our contribution to ease operational bottlenecks for international clients and create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in from a Real Estate perspective”, he further stressed.
He however called on the government to further improve the means of doing business in the country; by quickening business registration process, and easing the statutory, legislative and legal frameworks to business operations in the country, noting that this will open even more opportunities for local and international stakeholders in the real estate space.
