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  • Marriott Hotel, Melrose Arch
  • October 10, 2023
Rules & CriteriaEnter Now
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About

AFRICA PROPERTY INVESTMENT AWARDS

The Africa Property Investment (API) Awards is an annual event that recognizes and celebrates peer-to-peer excellence in the African real estate industry, by showcasing successful and innovative projects and initiatives. The awards have become a critical benchmark for measuring success and aim to promote and encourage investment in the African property market.   The API Awards honor leading developers, architects, engineers, investors, and other professionals who have contributed to the growth and development of the real estate industry in Africa and cover various categories, including developments, personnel, service and innovation. 
Rules & Criteria

WHO THE AWARDS ARE FOR

The awards are open to developers, professional teams, consultants, suppliers and property owners involved in the African real estate industry. To ensure impartiality and objectivity, the awards are judged by a panel of industry experts and thought leaders.
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jury

Our 2023 Jury

Malcolm Horne

Group CEO, Broll Property Group

Elizabeth Natukunda Mwebesa

Director at Turner & Townsend - Uganda

Tayo Odunsi

CEO, Northcourt Real Estate – Nigeria

Wayne Troughton

CEO, HTI Consulting – SA

Paul Onwuanibe

CEO, Landmark Group - Nigeria

Nicolas Sheard

CEO, RLB Africa – SA

Mmatšatši Ramawela

Director, African Tourism Showcase

David Luwigi,

CEO & Head, Batian Property Fund – Kenya

Ivan Cornet

managing Partner - Latitude Five, UK

Vere Shaba

CEO, RLB Founder & Director: ESG, Climate Change & Sustainability, Green Design Africa – SA

John K. Kabuye

Founder, CEO & Principal Consultant-BESIC Group - Kenya

Dennis Quansah

Kenya, Ghana & Nigeria Lead - EDGE Green Building Market Transformation Program - IFC

Tim Harlech-Jones

Managing Director - Bentel Associates International

hOW TO ENTER

All it takes are the four easy steps below. The API Awards are open to everyone in the built environment.
1
Select your category
Here you can view the 3 categories and the awards under each category. You can submit as many entries for consideration as you wish for any of the 16 awards, as long as entry criteria is met. Lifetime Achievement Award is selected by the judges from nominations submitted.
2
Pre-Entry Form
Each contribution requires one entry form. Pick one of the three categories—Development, Personnel, Service Technology & Innovation.
3
Criteria Submission
You must email a criteria submission document alongside your Entry Form. For each submission, please note that you must first read and understand the competition rules and criteria on the website and indicate as such in order to proceed with the entry form. This is mandatory.
5
Additional Materials
Ensure that you submit the required supporting materials (photos, maps, videos, career profile, company profile. etc.) to be eligible. These can be emailed to [email protected] (Email your supporting documents only)
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WHO THE AWARDS ARE FOR

The awards are open to developers, professional teams, consultants, suppliers and property owners involved in the African real estate industry. To ensure impartiality and objectivity, the awards are judged by a panel of industry experts and thought leaders.

API AWARDS OBJECTIVES

PREVIOUS WINNERS

2022 API AWARDS WINNERS​

CATEGORIES

Development

Personnel

SERVICE, TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

PROMOTING YOUR AWARD

Award winners also have the opportunity to be highlighted as an award-winning project on API Events’ various websites, events and platforms, which include press releases distributed by API Events, prime placement of the API Summit and Group websites and social media channels, Newsletter which is electronically distributed to 25,000 property stakeholders, and through targeted email marketing campaigns to API Events database. All winners receive a framed certificate, trophy, email signature, web banner and a window vinyl, and any additional customised and branded marketing collateral on request.

Finalists are mentioned in the Awards presentation. Due to the high level of competition and interest in the API Awards, being recognised as a finalist in this African property defining awards provides significant exposure for brands and their teams.
Rules

Join us at The Venue, Melrose Arch
10 October 2023

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Mmatšatši Ramawela

Mmatšatši is a passionate and inspiring advocate of the tourism and hospitality sector. She has worked for nearly 30 years for both public and private sector organisations. Highlights of her career include been the CEO of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa; organising/hosting the Hospitality Investment Conference Africa for 10 years and the South African Travel and Tourism Summit, which brought together stakeholders in the travel and tourism sectors. She is a director of several organisations including her consultancy company, Gecko Afrika Holdings and the African Tourism Showcase, which is registered in the UK and South Africa; and serves as the President of the International institute for Peace through Tourism Southern Africa chapter. She is a University of Johannesburg Master’s graduate in Leadership in Emerging Economies and is currently completing a PHD in Business Management at the University of Pretoria.

DEVELOPMENT
CATEGORY

Open to development projects completed between 1 September 2022 to 30 September 2023 and must be over 50% let to qualify from Sub-Saharan Africa and excluding South Africa can be entered into the competition for any relevant award.

All entries under this category will be judged on:

  • ESG metrics and green building credentials
  • Aesthetics/architectural design appeal: Technical and architectural quality
  • Originality of the concept & Innovation
  • Sensitivity to the local community and integration into the environment
  • Mixed-use projects submitted for this award must be:
    • live-work-play / multipurpose space/s integrating two or more types of land uses.
    • provides significant revenue-producing uses (such as retail/entertainment, office, residential, hotel, and/or civic/cultural / recreation).
    • walkable community with uninterrupted pedestrian connections.
    • sustainable / integration, density, and compatibility of land use.
    • access to transport and other amenities
  • Best Retail Development Award (Large Mall - >15,000sqm)
  • Best Retail Development Award (Convenience Malls - <15,000sqm)
  • Best Mixed-use Development Award
  • Best Commercial Office Development Award
  • Best Hotel Development Award
  • Best High-End Residential Development Award
  • Best Affordable Housing Development Award
  • Industrial, Logistics and Alternative Assets (Data Centers, Healthcare & Education) Award

PERSONNEL
CATEGORY

All entries under this category will be judged on:

  • Career to date
  • Achievements in the last 12 months
  • ESG and Green Building Champion for Africa: Impact you have had in the industry for the last 12 months.
  • Impact you have had on the industry or organization in the last 12 months.
  • Ability to be an industry thought leader.
  • Competitive Advantage: how you/nominee stand out from the rest in the African real estate industry and your/their peers
  • Eligible candidates for the Young Property Person of the Year Award must be under 35 years.
  • Woman in Real Estate Award
  • Young Property Person of the Year Award
  • Top Africa Real Estate CEO of the Year Award

SERVICE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION
CATEGORY

All entries under this category will be judged on ESG metrics and green building credentials.

    • Is it a refinance of an existing development or new deal. New developments carry more weight than refinanced deals.
    • Expertise, key capabilities and services offered
    • Innovation and leading technology involved in the deal making.
    • ESG metrics.
    • Complexity in execution of the deal e.g., number of lenders involved in deal making, multiple currencies, cross jurisdictions, country of deal origin.
    • Pricing and deal size – are significant as filters but not as over-riding determinants. Some jurisdictions demand a far higher price due the country’s risk profile. This makes the deal expensive. In addition few lenders are prepared to take up the deal because of the risk outlook. This does not usually mean that deals of this kind are not great. Large deals are typically refinances and seldom new developments, and far easier. Some deals are also confidential and therefore pricing information might not be readily shared.
    • Deal impact – to the industry or even economy that the business operates in e.g., transformation to the infrastructure, economic benefits unlocked by the deal etc.
    • Timeline – how long did it take to implement the deal? Was it a quick turnaround time?
    • Evaluation metrics and the judges for this particular award??
    •  

NB: Applicable to the Most Innovative Real Estate Company of the Year Award.

Due to the accelerated nature of innovation, judges may not be aware of products and solutions in the marketplace.
For this reason, entries submitted for consideration under this award must support out-of-the-box, trailblazing / breakthrough thinking and new solution/s and briefly answer the questions below (2a – g):

    1.Contact information requested below must be properly included so that your submission is processed.
  • Name of Organization (exactly as it should to appear on awards-related announcements)
  • Submission Contact: First Name & Surname/Title/Email/Mobile Contact Number
  • Communications/Marketing Contact: First Name & Surname/Title/Email/Mobile Contact Number

    2.Please provide the following details for every entry submitted for consideration:
      1. Name of innovation as it should appear on any awards-related materials.
      2. Category (innovations that are not easily categorized will be considered)
      3. Launch / go-live date of the innovation must be between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023.
      4. The problem the innovation solves for the firm or its clients.
      5.  How is it innovative? What is new about it? How does it disrupt the status quo?

NB: The response to this question is most important.

    1. The story behind the innovation. How did the idea come up? What was the inspiration? What adjustments were made along the way? How did the organization deploy resources or structure workflow to support this project? Which departments were involved? What clients or partners were involved?

 

    1. (a)Idea champions (if applicable) – Were there individuals in the organization who played key roles in shepherding the project through?
  • Best African Real Estate Bank of the Year Award
  • Best Transaction of the Year Award
  • Best Property Service Group of the Year Award
  • Most Innovative Real Estate Company Award
  • Co-working Operator Award
  • Best Occupier Deal of the Year Award

Lifetime
achievement

This special merit award is presented to an individual who, during their lifetime, has made contributions of outstanding significance to the African real estate industry. Looking at the “whole” of a career, rather than single contributions, all nominations under this category will be judged by the full API Awards jury panel, and must be submitted addressing the following criteria:

  • Consistency and resilience in the African real estate sector.
  • Ability to be an industry thought leader.
  • Quantifiable achievements in the last 20 years.
  • Businesses/organizations performance or transformation under the nominee’s leadership.
  • Competitive Advantage: how the nominee stands out from the rest in the African real estate industry.
  • LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD