As Nigeria eases into a new era of economic stability, the real estate market is responding positively with record levels of commercial property acquisition activity. In line with our expectations, transaction volumes in 2024 grew fivefold to $336m, up from $53m in the previous year. The growth was primarily driven by acquisitions from income funds and Nigerian corporates seeking to own their headquarters. The effect is visible in the Real Estate Services sector, which has consistently been a leading contributor to quarterly GDP growth, ultimately placing it as the third-largest contributor to GDP at the end of last year, underlining the sector’s central role in Nigeria’s post-reform economic expansion.
The emergence of Nigerian corporates and other owner-occupiers as key market participants through office acquisitions or brownfield and greenfield development is of particular interest. While they do not account for the lion’s share of activity on the acquisitions side, they are a growing segment, driven primarily by relatively cheap asset prices in a high construction cost environment, and the desire to avoid the high US Dollar rents required for Lagos’ A-Grade office space.
In this year’s edition of our Capital Trends report, we take an in-depth look at Nigerian real estate capital markets, identifying key insights around the evolution of capital sources, yield expansion, and the growing interest in brownfield development and renovations. As we approach the end of 2025, acquisition activity we are tracking is just shy of $50m, however given the opaque nature of the Nigerian market, it will be a few months into 2026 before all transaction information comes to light. Nonetheless, we are excited, as this new wave of activity indicates that Nigeria is on track to reintroduce its cities as a destination for international institutional capital.
As always, digest and let us know what you think directly via [email protected]; all feedback (including corrections) is welcome.
Enjoy!
Report Updated: 21st November 2025 (Owner occupier transaction slide and Data Centre slides were adjusted).
