Folorunsho Alakija, Billionaire Oil Tycoon, Tops London Property Market Buyers

Folorunsho Alakija

As super-rich African oligarchs are taking their vast resources and investing them in the safe haven of London property, Nigerians have become the biggest spenders, with her wealthy nationals forking out £250million on London homes in the last three years. More than £600million spent in the capital in the past three years and £4million spent in the city every week. They favour the likes of One Hyde Park, Daily Mail of London reports.

The new wave of super-rich includes Folorunsho Alakija, a billionaire oil tycoon, fashion designer and philanthropist from Lagos, top as a big investor in the London property market. She recently bought four apartments in One Hyde Park, the super-exclusive development in Knightsbridge.

Her British-born nephew Rotimi Alakija, who also goes by the stage name of DJ Xclusive, has also invested in property in the capital.

It is thought other tycoons have also been eyeing up homes on Kensington Palace Gardens - known as Billionaires' Row.

Gary Hersham, managing director of Beauchamp Estates, revealed he has had three super-rich Nigerians enquiring about homes in the past week alone. This is despite the average person in Nigeria earning just £850 per year.

He said: "I've had an upturn in African buyers over the last few months. The situation in West Africa at present is pushing rich African buyers back into Central London at a significantly higher level than is normally experienced. While war, disease and terrorism in West Africa grab media headlines, actually for super-rich Africans its domestic wealth, cultural ties to London, general safety and education for their children that are the key attractions for buying a home in central London."

Folorunsho & Hubby, Modupe

Hersham added that these super-rich look to buy property in the 'platinum triangle' which is made up of Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge.
"Around 80 per cent spend between £15 million to £25 million on a residential property, with ten per cent spending more than £30 million. If they are not buying, they are renting luxury homes for up to £15,000-per-week and staying for between six weeks and three months per year," he added.

London's reputation for having a residential property market, which is secure and a stable investment, is one of the main reasons wealthy Africans are buying, according to Beauchamp Estates. Another reason is historic cultural and community ties. Nigeria is a Commonwealth country and there is a community of 70,000 in London. There are a similar number of Ghanaians in the capital.

The third reason is education, with King's School Canterbury, Wycombe Abbey, Cheltenham Ladies College, Eton, Harrow and Bradfield are among the favourite private schools for wealthy families from Africa.

According to the Nigerian Embassy, Nigerian nationals spend more than £300 million-a-year on tutoring, accommodation, fees and equipment at British schools and universities.

Hersham added: "It is going to be the African century. Continental African buyers or luxury tenants in London are currently where the Russians and Ukrainians were five years ago. At present virtually all the transactions are for end use, not rental investment, which indicates that the African buyer market in London has significant room for growth and maturity."

Nigerians have been long standing property purchasers in the central London market, going back to the early 1980s. However, in the 1980s and 1990s they typically purchased houses in North London, in Hampstead, St Johns Wood and Primrose Hill. Now, enhanced wealth has enabled them to move into the ultra prime market in Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, and have been joined by affluent purchasers from other West African and French equatorial states.'

Original story culled from Daily Mail

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