Cameroon: Proparco is supporting the development of the 1st shopping center with an environmental certification

Actis (www.act.is) is a British investment fund and leader on emerging markets, with over USD 15bn invested in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

With over 70 years of experience in financing businesses on emerging markets, Actis has developed and strengthened a responsible investment approach, which is now definitively an integral part of the company’s culture. Actis is a signatory to the “Principles for Responsible Investment”, a compact supported by the United Nations and prepared under the United Nations Environment Programme Financial Initiative (UNEP FI).

Actis is the most experienced real estate investor in Sub-Saharan Africa, as it has conducted over 11 A-Grade development operations in 8 cities, including a number of assets in the hotel sector. 

Actis also has a long track record in private equity investment in Africa, as it has already invested USD 5bn in the region over the past 15 years.

Douala Grand Mall (“DGM”) is a shopping center where a supermarket, 160 shops and boutiques, 22 restaurants and a cinema will open on 18,500 m2 of rental space. DGM has been designed as a destination mall, meaning both a place of consumption and center of attraction. It will open in September 2020 and will be the first major shopping center in Central Africa. The project is located near the airport, in an urban area with 4 million inhabitants. It will have a capacity to receive up to 300,000 visitors a month.

The project should create or maintain the equivalent of 3,560 direct and indirect full-time jobs over the next 5 years. The opening of DGM is contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals: #SDG 8 Decent work and economic growth, #SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure, by developing unique facilities in Central Africa, #SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities, by developing facilities that meet high environmental standards (EDGE certification) and #SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production, by developing a business park to improve the city’s attractiveness and develop the surrounding areas. In terms of access, the Douala Grand Mall project is positioned in the “modern” distribution sector, mainly for the middle and upper classes, and could benefit 1 million residents.