Real Estate and Construction in Ghana: Mirage Residence by Yagmur Group

Interview with Cahit Ozcan, General Manager at Yagmur Ghana Ltd

What is your assessment of the sector in Ghana? What are the major challenges? What are the latest trends?

In this sector in general, we are having difficulties to keep well-disciplined and skilled personnel. Other than that, we are importing all our finishing materials from outside. When you import goods, there are sometimes delays. It affects your timelines and we always have timelines to meet. When you compare with outside, the bureaucracy may be a bit slower. These are all things we can overcome and go for our projects.

Is the market competitive here?

We believe in the lifestyle. Building up only walls or a ceiling is construction, but to bring up a lifestyle is the main point in Ghana.

Of course, competition is everywhere, it is just the scale of the competition that changes. In Ghana, the competition is there. Investment for apartments is not very popular, but we have investors and buyers buying for their own living space. There is a lack of confidence in this sector because we can see many uncompleted projects in Accra in the system. The investors lose confidence to invest in apartments, especially.

Have you seen any changes in the laws recently regarding the construction and real estate sector?

There was a building code that was released recently. We have to do everything according to the regulations. We meet the regulations in the country. We are also bringing in the standards of Europe. Sometimes, it might not be in the regulations, but because of the nature of our buildings that are tall and with several floors, you also have to keep those standards for the safety of the building.

What does your company do? How different are you from other companies in this sector?

Yagmur Group is a private investment group. The owner of the company is from Turkey. Our group is doing our own investment and development with our own resources. We also go for contract jobs at scale, not small ones. We are also doing the management of our properties. We are also in the import sector because we have to bring our goods in from outside. We have been in the construction sector for the past 28 years. The company originally comes from Turkey and for the past 9 or 10 years we have been in Ghana. This is not our first development. Mirage Residence is our current project that we are just delivering right now. Other than this, we have also had investments in some other sectors. Right now, we are focusing on construction.

What other sectors are you investing in?

We have done some investment in the hospitality sector, but we have recently sold it out.

What makes your current project, Mirage Residence, stand out? What are the benefits for an investor to invest in this project?

Recently, the hotel concept has become very trendy throughout the world. In Dubai, Europe, the UK, the US, you can see apartments with a hotel concept which means the ground floor is designed like a hotel but at the end of the day you live in your apartment. In Ghana, it is very important because we have also been living in Ghana for the past 10 years and when you have a meeting you have to step out and meet your friend or your business associate or if you have an event you have to go to a hotel. But in this building, you do not have to do that because everything is downstairs. You can have meetings in the business lounge, the business center is there for any services you need, or you can host an event in our halls. In addition to that, we have a hairdresser’s salon, a mini market, a kids’ club, and housekeeping and laundry services. In terms of sports, for kids and adults we have amenities like a multi-purpose court where you can play basketball, mini-football, tennis, volleyball. We have a swimming pool and a fitness center and children’s playgrounds. The concept is quite different. You may find some of these facilities in other properties, but with Mirage Residence this is all in one spot. This is what makes Mirage different. It is currently one of a kind now in Ghana.

How does Mirage Residence compare to the compound concept where you also have all these offerings inside the complex?

Our compound is well-established and the location is one of the key things. In property investment and development in general, one of the first things that is looked at when you rank is the location. Our location is on Liberation Road, just two minutes’ drive from the airport. In terms of security and reaching anywhere in Accra, we are at an excellent location.

How are the sales doing? Are there challenges? Are you targeting a specific group? Who are your clients?

Sales are going well. It was not easy for the whole world for the past two or three years, but we had confidence in Ghana. After the elections in February 2017, we started with this project and we have completed it and are delivering the apartments now, in only 2 years and 2 months. Sales are doing well, not perfectly or very fast, but they are good. In the coming years, we are getting ready for a new investment as well. Things are going well for Ghana and for us, too.

What is your plan for future investment? What projects do you want to develop?

The project that we completed before Mirage already had some facilities that you see in Mirage. But Mirage, with its concept, is the best in the world now. After Mirage, the following project will also have some extras that we are going to put on the Mirage concept. The idea is to bring up more new things for Ghanaians and our clients. We have, of course, Ghanaian investors, Ghanaian residents, foreign nationals like Indians, Lebanese, etc. Some are buying to live in the residence and some are buying for renting out.

Are you looking for partnerships or strategic alliances with investors?

We do our investments with our own resources, without any bank loans or partnerships. We are not looking for partners as of now.

What do you need to be a successful company in this business?

Especially in Ghana, you must be very hard working. Things are slow and relaxed here. You must keep it very tight, disciplined, and you have to be on top of your business. Especially for a company like us, we pledge a time that we will finish the project. You must always be on duty and keep the pace. You cannot relax at all if you want to deliver the project. Otherwise, it could take many years to complete the project.

How do you see the future of the company in the medium term? What is your vision?

We believe in the lifestyle. Building up only walls or a ceiling is construction, but to bring up a lifestyle is the main point in Ghana. We are all stressed all day and things are not easy, but when you come home you should have peace and a relaxed environment and everything should flow well. Delivering a quality building and apartment is not easy, it is very difficult, but to maintain the standards is also difficult. In Mirage Residence and our other building, we are managing our property with our own management team. You always have to have the utilities in good condition. You have to have your power on, your water flowing, a clean swimming pool, everything should work well. That is why Mirage Residence is a very good point for investors or buyers to buy and live in. As for our vision in Ghana, we have the confidence in the real estate and construction market here and the country and we will be going in on our investments and everything will continue to get better in the years to come.

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