REAL HOUSES. Ghana Real Estate Market promises to Flourish in 2013. An artist's impression of Devtraco Plus' Palmers Place development in Accra, one of their flagship developments in Ghana, which has seven five bedroom luxury townhouses in phase one.
The rise of Ghana property market has been well documented in the past decade and there has been an improvement in infrastructure deficit with better prospects for growth still to come. Millions of dollars are being realised by private entrepreneurs, especially in the real estate sector and the ever changing skyline of Accra illustrates this well. The private sector is possibly one of the main engines of growth in Ghana's economy, says Kenneth Ofori, business manager for Devtraco Plus, a luxury real estate company in Ghana.
The stable democratic atmosphere and the discovery of oil reserves in 2010 have made Ghana the fastest growing economy in the West African Sub region. Currently, reports indicate that 80,000 barrels a day are being supplied. Bigger is better for Ghana’s malls. The shiny new malls are aimed at middle-class Ghanaians, but also attract big spenders from Nigeria.
Photo©Chris Stein for JA New shopping centres are sweeping the continent, and they are bigger, shinier and busier. In West Africa, Ghana is taking the lead with the largest in the region. A 30-minute drive from central Accra along the Accra-Cape Coast motorway takes you to Weija, a rapidly developing neighbourhood soon to be home to West Africa's largest shopping mall. Retail could also bring in a big scale of GDP contributions. A grand site and a new road bypass are currently being constructed as part of the West Hills Mall development. The $100m complex will be the second built by the Atterbury Group after the Accra Mall built in 2007, and the South African property developers are upbeat.
"We want to create a 'Little Dubai' in Ghana," enthuses Johan Venter, Ghana retail manager for the group. Once the first phase is completed at the end of October, the West Hills Mall will cover 27,700m2. What is a Green Roof? An aerial view of most urban areas shows swathes of asphalt, black tar and gravel-ballasted rooftops.
Heat radiates off of the dark roofs, and water rushes over the hard, hopefully impermeable surfaces. Yet, there is a new trend that breaks up the monotony of common roofs: green rooftops. Long popular in Europe, green rooftops have begun to appeal to homeowners, businesses and even cities as an attractive way to promote environmentalism while solving the problems of conventional roofs. Green roofs supplement traditional vegetation without disrupting urban infrastructure -- they take a neglected space and make it useful. Green roofs last longer than conventional roofs, reduce energy costs with natural insulation, create peaceful retreats for people and animals, and absorb storm water, potentially lessening the need for complex and expensive drainage systems.
Two types of green roof exist: intensive and extensive. Start a free community. Dukeperson.