World Bank ranks Dar real estate ahead of Nairobi’s

Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam’s real estate has been ranked ahead of Nairobi and Addis Ababa in the World Bank’s latest cities report, which cites land fragmentation and weak property rights as the sector’s biggest impediments in Africa.

The report estimates the economic value of Dar’s real estate at Sh1.2 trillion ($12 billion) ahead of Nairobi’s Sh927 billion ($9 billion), a  Sh273 billion difference.

The World Bank report, however, describes Dar, Addis and Nairobi as having low economic/replacement values compared to cities with similar income levels.

Economist Mr Somik Lall of the World Bank said the low economic value comes from the way land is organised — in small fragments — reducing the scope to scale up investment in housing and commercial complexes.

Small scale urban development increases cost of construction and makes it costly to lay down supporting services and infrastructure.