Africa’s Real Estate Boom Is Just Getting Started | How to Invest Safely-MP3

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
When I did the podcast with you all, I was telling you, probably the most impactful interview I've done in my career.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:08)
Heroes now, real heroes.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:11)
Rashad and Troy talk about the tax lid.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:13)
We talk about finance, but we talk in a language that is common to the people that's from the community that we grew up in.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:20)
You all are the bright spot of real estate. Thank you, thank you. And entrepreneurship for black Americans. This is the knowledge that actually matters.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:29)
I applaud both of you for this.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:30)
Thank you.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:31)
Literacy isn't a country issue.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:34)
It's not an American issue. It's a world issue.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:36)
He came to earn our leisure!

**SPEAKER_2** (0:44)
So how did you get started specifically in Africa, doing this, doing the relationship?

**SPEAKER_4** (0:52)
When I was doing hospitality and running a hotel in south of France, I told myself, either I go to Canada to work at the Sofitel at Montreal, or they offered me to come to Dakar to work at the Novo Tell Hotel here in Dakar.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:08)
The hostel, yeah.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:09)
And I wanted to feel like home. I wanted to feel like I had an impact, because when you go work in big cities, you just add some small percentage over small percentage and you're just a number, they replace you. When you come here, you become a player quickly. So it's a bigger playground, more interesting, and then you can actually become a Carnegie of your area. You can become a big investor, whereas it's not impossible in big countries, but the struggle you have to go through, the difficulties, whatever you go through, is too much headaches compared to the rewards. And here you feel home.
And where are you originally from? Are you New York?

**SPEAKER_1** (1:48)
Yeah, both. Yeah.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:53)
It's beautiful. Beautiful country. You definitely see, there's a lot that still has to be done, but that's the opportunity. Yeah.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:59)
Lots of opportunity and the purchasing power when you're an American and you can put 100 grounds in an apartment and looking at ROI around 10% is not crazy. It's interesting.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:16)
So like 100,000 to get you an apartment here?

**SPEAKER_4** (2:18)
Yeah. It can get you a one-bedroom apartment.
And now it's more running around 110, 120, it keeps growing. The two I have, one-bedroom apartment, I bought them 80,000 each five years ago. Now they go around 110 something. But the return is very high because it's 23%.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:43)
How much is the rent?

**SPEAKER_4** (2:45)
It's in US, $2,000 approximately. $2,000. So 24 year.
So around.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:53)
In this area?

**SPEAKER_4** (2:54)
In this area, it's going to be more like 1.5, 1.6.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:59)
Do people buy cash or they get mortgages?

**SPEAKER_4** (3:04)
In Africa, they like cash.
They don't trust banks that much. And they don't want to be in the system to show their earnings, to show traceability so that they can leverage funds. And the bank system here is very tough. Like in the US, mortgages are like nothing. You work a little and then you get it. Here, you have to kill somebody to get the mortgage.
Yeah, it's very tough.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:31)
High interest rate.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:32)
Let's say it's 8, 7, 8

**SPEAKER_3** (3:35)
That's not bad.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:35)
But for the African market, when you get the 24% ROI, you borrow money at 8, makes sense.

**SPEAKER_2** (3:46)
That makes a lot of sense.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:47)
Makes sense. But we need to be careful and resist the urge to be in the formal kind of mentality, and be rushing to buy land, to buy apartment without thinking ahead.
That's the issue. Some people, like they see the excitement and instead of taking the time, they go into formal mode, and then you hear stories, oh, he came, he brought 50k down payment, and now he's never heard about his 50k, again, you have to be careful.

**SPEAKER_2** (4:16)
Well, talk about that, because that's something that a lot of people kind of nervous of, like, how do you avoid that?

**SPEAKER_4** (4:21)
Yeah, you have to go through the proper channels. It cannot be, you know a guy who knows a guy and is going to help you out, that's over. Forget about this.
Anybody selling you that kind of, let's say I know a guy who knows a guy, half the time, it's bullshit. Yeah, you don't need to know a guy. If you have money, you go through the official channels, everything is going to be fine with you.

**SPEAKER_2** (4:47)