Dar es Salaam is one of the fastest-growing cities on the continent. Every year it adds a substantial population that needs somewhere to live, somewhere to work, and somewhere for its goods to be stored and sold. That is the whole real estate thesis in one sentence — and it is also why parts of the market are already crowded.

Where supply has caught up

High-end apartments in the established coastal and diplomatic areas, and prestige office space in the central business district, have attracted a lot of capital. Rents in these segments are more competitive than they were, and absorption is slower. They are not bad assets — but they are no longer the easy part of the market.

Where it has not

• Quality mid-market housing. There is a large gap between informal housing and premium developments. Well-built, well-managed units priced for salaried professionals remain genuinely under-supplied — the constraint is mortgage availability, which is slowly improving.
• Modern industrial and warehouse space. Purpose-built facilities with proper floors, height, power, security and truck access are scarce. Most stock is converted, compromised or badly located.
• Serviced commercial space. Smaller businesses want a functional office without a five-year lease and a fit-out budget.
• Retail outside the core. Neighbourhood retail following residential growth into the outer city, rather than another mall in the centre.

Three things that decide the outcome

1. Title. Verify it independently, at the registry, before any commitment. This is the single most common source of loss for outside investors.
2. Infrastructure. Road access, reliable power, water and drainage determine value far more than the plot itself. A cheap plot without access is expensive.
3. Management. Tanzanian property returns are made or lost in operation — collections, maintenance, tenant quality. Development is the short part; management is the long part.

Buy the access and the management capability. The land is the easy part.

The corridor effect

Infrastructure changes value. New roads, bridges and rail links redraw which areas are viable, and they do it years before prices fully reflect it. Reading planned infrastructure correctly — rather than reacting to it — is where a large part of the return in this market has historically been made.

WAHI Properties

WAHI Properties develops, acquires and manages property assets in Tanzania, with a focus on the under-supplied segments above. We work with developers, institutional investors and diaspora investors, and we manage what we build.

If you are evaluating property here, we are happy to share our view of specific locations — including where we would not invest.