Bennett Oghifo
A new shopping facility known as Super Mall is evolving in the Akerele axis of Surulere, Lagos that is set to redefine how people will meet their daily needs, including hardcore entertainment.
There is more. Investors in the Mall are sure of high returns on investment (ROI), according to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Median Infrastructural Development Company Engr. Olumide Akinsanya, promoter of the mall.
According to Akinsanya, as commercial real estate, malls have “extremely high returns, but the investment is quite large,” adding that the Super Mall is very big, as it is a proper mall.
The Super Mall is being built where the Super Plaza used to stand. “We call it Super Mall because it has always been a center called Super Plaza. And we feel that redeveloping that into a mall becomes a Super Mall and it’s truly going to be super. The industry is waiting to be tapped, to expand.
“And what I’m happy about is the influx of what I would call the second generation of retail. This second generation of retail seems determined to stay, irrespective of the economy.
Akinsanya said malls in Nigeria are less than 20, with over 200 million people. “Nigeria can still conveniently accommodate a thousand malls without even beginning.”
The recent upsurge and revolution in the mall industry, he said, started with the mall in Lekki, “which is quite commendable. And very few people have been able to throw their hat into the ring. While the return is good, as far as commercial real estate is concerned, the investment requirement is very huge.
“And you see very few Nigerians playing in that sector. Extremely few Nigerians play in that sector. Most of the big players are still foreigners.
“It has become extremely challenging now because of the local currency volatility. I will not say devaluation. I will say the volatility of our local currency.
“In most cases, most of the investors that partner with us are unable to take their funds out of the country. So that has made it very difficult for investments to come in, for expansions to take place. So those of us that are local players are taking the bull by the horn.
“We are Nigerians, we have nowhere to go. And we also see the opportunity in that. You know, the foreigners will not develop us.
“They will assist us, but they are here to make money too. If it wasn’t a profitable venture, you will see foreigners come here. But because it’s profitable, that’s why you see foreigners come to Nigeria to want to come and play in the retail sector.
“So now that the appetite has gone south, very low, a few of us locals, and our followers, believe that there’s only one Nigeria and we must still make things happen here. So we’ve thrown our hats into the ring. A few people like myself are still making sure that this is still happening.
“And that’s the reason why we have the Super Mall in Surulere. We’ve, on our own, taken up the Tropicana model in Uyo, Akwa Ibom and we’ve turned it around, we’ve made it what it is today. It’s been running, this is the third year.
“And that shows that if that can happen, then we can do it here. We believe that the Super Mall in Surulere will surpass that.”
He said the first generation of retail was in the days of Kingsway, Leventies, and the like. And we had them across the country. And in 1984, by the time we had the structural adjustment programme, similar to what’s happening today, everyone of them took off.
“And a generation of Nigerians did not experience what we experienced when they used to take our hand and we went for Father Christmas. We were waiting for the train ride to Father Christmas and we cried and all of that they missed.
“But they were also going abroad and were seeing malls. So by the time the first new generation mall came back, that’s about 12 years ago, if I’m not mistaken, or thereabouts, it was like, wow, that’s the ninth wonder of the world. So you could see people from Ibadan coming to Lagos just to come and see.
“That means that our population was hungry for something. We were hungry for that. And the old energy was being put into it.
“Developers were looking at it. Investors were looking into it. And this started coming up.
“By 2016, there was a nosedive. That is quite unfortunate, but then that’s a reality. There was a nosedive from 2016. So if you look at the number of malls that sprang up before 2016 and between 2016 and now, it’s a far cry from each other. This is because of the fact that dollar investors became shy, because you cannot earn dollars in rent, but you build in dollars.
“Even when you now earn in Naira, you cannot exchange it in the official market and remit your loan back. So you are taking a dollar loan, you are earning Naira, and the Naira keeps going down, and the dollar keeps going up in terms of the value you get from it. So it’s been a struggle.
“So what we are looking at is to devise our own way of ensuring that we invest our Naira and we earn our Naira. Which is what is happening today. We have devised our model to continue to be in the market, to continue to offer people the quality that they deserve. The upside of it is the fact that the new generation of supermarkets that came in, post-2010 and the rest of it, have improved the offerings to the people. Now, every neighbourhood has one form of supermarket or another, they offer something that you can compare to what you see in the international sphere. And equally, we realised that there is also a mix.
“They have tried to offer that quality and mix it with our local needs. So you go to some supermarkets now, you see the village market. You can buy Ugu and they are fresh. You know, your goat meat. So you are beginning to get quality offerings from the people. That is improving the retail industry. And it can only get better. That’s why I say that this second generation of retail is determined to stay.
“It is now for the investors to see this determination, tap into it and let’s grow it together. That’s all I want to say.”
He also said, “There is no long-term funding. You see, local investment is very difficult to come by because most of our banks are used to trading. The banks do not want to give you, more than maybe, if you talk to a bank, they tell you 180 days. Three years at the most. Five years if you know the bank and you are very good and all of that. And you can’t really pay back loans in five years when you do this kind of investment. So it becomes very difficult. So as a developer, as an investor, you need to think out of the box now.
“How else can you continue to provide? And that is what we are currently doing. By ensuring that we get people to either buy, stores, and we are able to now. So our model currently is to ensure that we deliver a debt-free asset. “Possibly, and that will continue to run over a period of time. So we need to look for a local way to solve our local problem. And we are discussing with our banking partners, our financial partners.
“A few of the banks are really very happy to work with us. They have looked at our model. They have looked at what we have done in the past. They are looking at what we are currently doing. They are happy with us.”
He said the Super Mall in Surulere would do well because “Surulere is a medium, upper-medium environment that can boast of appreciable disposable income. A mall in Surulere is a no-brainer. The current location is a natural retail location. That was where we used to have the cinema, Super Cinema of old. So those that are 70 years now and 80 years old know what I’m talking about. And those that are in their 50s still know what I’m talking about. So it has gone through several generations. So we partnered with Wemabod to lease the land and jointly develop the place into a more modern retail centre befitting a city called Surulere. And we’ve come up with a 5,900 square meter leasable space.”
Super Mall has four floors, with Market Square as our anchor. “Market Square is probably the fastest growing retail outlet in Nigeria. I think they are currently sitting in almost 30 centers across Nigeria. It’s local and it competes with any retail store in the world. And there’s a cinema there. Film House is talking to us. We are happy to talk to them. We have a retinue of dedicated tenants that have followed us in all our development.”
According to him, “There are a lot of other reasons to have an anchor. Grocery stores as anchors are winding down in retail. And you need to start looking at what keeps people in the mall. What brings people to the mall? Entertainment. Children’s playground. Those two key things are what we are focusing on now. Grocery is a no brainer. And while the requirement for grocery has reduced substantially.”
You can view all the floors from the ground floor. Transportation to all floors is by means of escalators and lifts and all floors have sprinklers in the event of an unlikely fire incident, he said.
“Because we are also very safety conscious, we have a sprinkler system, we have a fire hose reel. We take all possible and the best possible internationally approved safety measures,” he said.
