Broll Nigeria in ambitious 40% revenue growth target as new CEO steps in
Broll Nigeria, a leading real estate service firm, says it is targeting, in the next three years of market leadership, a revenue growth of about 40 percent larger than what it is at the moment.
Bolaji Edu, the company’s new CEO, who made this ambitious projection during his maiden interface with journalists in Lagos recently, hinged his expectation on the Nigeria economy which, he noted, is now the largest in Africa and is still growing at a very strong rate.
“At the real estate side, it seems to be growing at even larger rate than the economy in general”, he said, noting further that, “there is a huge growth happening in the real estate market and Broll, being the recognized leader in the market, sees itself expanding to new areas including advising new developers and investors coming into the market”.
Broll Nigeria, a subsidiary of Broll Property Group South Africa which is Africa´s leading commercial property services group, was founded in 1974. The Group has offices throughout South Africa and a growing number of African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda etc.
Broll Nigeria is affiliated with CBRE, the largest property services company in the world as quoted on the New York Stock Exchange with over 44,000 employees and 349 offices in 42 countries. It is well known mostly for its management of malls in Nigeria, including the Palms, Lekki and the Ikeja City Mall.
Broll which opened for business in Nigeria in 2004 has over 130 property practitioners in the country and asset under management in excess of $6 billion.
Edu, a graduate of Economics and Business Economics from the University of Hull, told the journalists that he was excited with his appointment as Broll Nigeria’s CEO, assuring that he would bring his wealth of experience from London real estate market to bear on the operations of Broll Nigeria.
He started work with the property management team at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) in London, and following working in the valuations department, he qualified as a chartered surveyor and became a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Post qualification, he moved to work in investment management before becoming an associate director in the investment advisory team of JLL.
In 2005, Edu joined what is now known as Aviva Investors, asset managing property portfolio for a number of UK Pension Funds before becoming an Assistant Fund Manager in the Institutional Funds Team in 2011.
In addition to working closely with the Broll team that he met on ground, the new CEO said it was his plan to ensure that Broll Nigeria was recognised as the market leader not just in retail mall management but also in all the other service areas. “I also want Broll to be known for carrying out all its business to international standards and best practice”, he added.
Leonard Michau, Broll’s Director and Head of West Africa Operations, said he was optimistic that Edu’s over 18 years experience in the real estate market is invaluable, adding that the company was confident he would make a significant contribution in continuing to build Broll presence in Nigeria.
CHUKA UROKO