Baía Mall

Actis, an international private equity fund focused on emerging markets, on Friday announced a US$96 million mall investment in Maputo city.The Baia Mall, on Av. Marginal, will have a total area of ​​30,000 m2 and include a hotel, more than 100 shops and restaurants, a service area and more than 900 parking spaces. It is hoped that the project will ultimately create more than 2,500 jobs.The Baia Mall project is promoted by ATCM (Automobile & Touring Clube de Moçambique) in partnership with private equity company Actis and RPP Developments.

Actis has a portfolio of more than 200 projects in 44 countries around the world, totaling US$9 billion of invested capital. Since 2004, Actis has invested in 11 real estate projects in seven Sub-Saharan African countries, and has extensive experience in the development of commercial spaces in Africa such as The Junction Shopping Mall in Nairobi.In 2006, Actis invested in the construction of Nigeria’s first shopping center, The Palms, followed in 2008 by the construction of Ghana’s most up-to-date commercial and leisure space, the Accra Mall. In 2012, Actis invested in the construction of the largest commercial space in Kenya Garden City.

The Baia Mall will be Actis’s first investment in Mozambique. For Louis Deppe of Actis East Africa Real Estate, “we have long seen Mozambique as a strategic market looking for good investment opportunities, since we believe in the country. The Baia Mall represents a large-scale, international-level project which responds to market needs. We will shortly announce more new investments in Mozambique”.Actis’s investments in Mozambique are being developed in partnership with Source Capital, a private equity ’boutique’ operating locally.

The mall will feature retail brands such as Super Spar, Game and Woolworths. Negotiations are under way with major national and international brands wishing to enter the Mozambican market. At present, more than 50 percent of the commercial space is already leased in a process that is being managed by reference real estate brokerage companies such as Foundation Capital, Broll and JLL.The construction of the shopping center is already under way, with more than 600 workers currently involved. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2017.