Safe & Secure Property Investment in Africa with AfricaAbroad.com
By: Collin Zhuawu – Investment in the property industry in Africa can be a tricky business due to rampant instances of fraud owing to a rise in bogus sellers, estate agents. This is particularly in those countries which fail to provide the necessary regulation and/or those which provide weak and ineffective regulations. As a consequence, investors might be discouraged from investing in properties in Africa as they are open to targeted fraud by bogus and unregulated estate agents. Take example of Zimbabwe. There has been an increase in bogus sellers and estate agents owing to the industry not being regularised, weak regulations which are seldom followed, lack of protection of buyers, corruption due to the deeds office no longer being transparent and allegations of unfaithful lawyers. This, it has emerged, has led to an increase in unregistered and bogus estate agents, making it difficult for genuine investors and buyers to engage into business.
However, in countries where there are Estate Agents Councils the problems associated with the property industry can be lessened through the interventions of these councils. For example, the Estate Agents Council of Zimbabwe embarked on a clampdown on bogus estate agents in an attempt to regularise the industry. This signifies the importance of Estate Agents Councils in making investment in properties in Africa safe and secure as they are in a position to regularise the industry and try and monitor the industry particularly identifying activities that are improper.
Nevertheless potential investors have been letdown in terms of the availability of one stop information store to allow sound investment decisions in an industry that is prone to fraud and bogus advertisements. Realising the need for a one stop information store, Africa Abroad Properties has established relationships with Estate Agents Councils and top estate agents in Africa to provide an open window of comprehensive information for investing in properties in Africa. Africa Abroad Properties allows only registered estate agents from different African countries to be eligible on Africa Abroad Properties site, www.africaabroad.com, in a way giving potential investors a peace of mind.
