Cameroon: Proparco supports Actis-backed shopping mall
Proparco and Société Générale Cameroon are supporting private equity investor Actis for the construction of Douala Grand Mall (DGM), through a €30 million financing package.
Designed as a destination mall, DGM will feature a supermarket, 160 shops and boutiques, 22 restaurants and a cinema on 18,500m2 of rental space. It will open in September and will be the first major shopping centre in Central Africa. The mall is located in the immediate vicinity of the international airport, in an urban area with 4 million inhabitants. It will have a capacity to receive up to 300,000 visitors a month.
Like many cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, is experiencing rapid population growth, especially among the middle class, and a strong urban transformation. Changes in consumer habits and the increase in purchasing power are giving rise to new needs for which a formal, modern and diversified offer is only just beginning to emerge.
Douala Grand Mall is expected to create over 4,500 direct jobs, including 3,200 in the construction phase, with an expected 1,200 in the operating phase. DGM is the first phase of a business park project that should eventually include a five-star hotel and offices.
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