Office Space Price Comparison, in Nairobi and across East Africa.

This article compares the cost of leasing an office space in Nairobi and Across East Africa.

Several factors are to be considered in determining the cost. Most often this cost is measured per Sq. Feet or per Sq. Meters.

Nairobi-Kenya;

This varies in terms of actual physical location across town. Most expensive being the CBD, Westlands Shopping center, Riverside, Mombasa road, Upper hill, Ngong Road, Yaya, Hurlingum just to name a few. An office in the CBD on first floor, second and third is more costly compared to higher floors i.e. 10^th, 11^th or 20^th Floor for that matter. In a building say at Corner House, City House, Cianda house and Anniversary Towers compared to a building at Tom Mboya Street, River Road and Kirinyaga Road will be different.

From Propertyzote database office space prices are from Ksh100.00 (lower floors) to Ksh.300 per sq. feet, 3rd floor from Kshs. 80.00 per sq. feet. In the outskirts of Nairobi: - Ngumo, Kenyatta, Nairobi West commercial office space average Ksh36 per sq.f, however most property agents and managers in this area don't use cost per square foot to charge of office/shop space. A Commercial Office Westlands (Museum Hill) who go for Kshs.75. to Kshs 100 per sq. feet some of which are inclusive of service charge. One thing that you should note is that the higher the floor the cheaper per square feet. At Ngong Road through Upper hill prices average Kshs. 85 to a high of Ksh.110 per sq. feet this is exclusive of service charge. 

Regus Kenya offices where they provide the new trend Virtual Offices 
and Virtual PA from as low as Ksh.8,600

There is a new trend and way of doing business in town: Virtual Office, this is whereby small medium enterprises are enjoying the benefits of having a corporate image without actually having a traditional office. This new way is facilitated via “virtual office” facilities. Businesses can utilize the services of a virtual office by having access to office space, secretary services, boardroom, business address, telephone number and even Wi-fi Internet access. Business in return pays a monthly fee from US$ 70 a month for there services. 

Sources from Ark Consultants (K), puts the annual demand for office space in Nairobi at about one million square feet compared to the supply of 700,000 square feet; this creates a deficit of 300,000 sq. feet.

Nakuru

The price of an office space in Nakuru has soared in the past three years and this has been driven by investors’ rush for business opportunities in the town. Rent for a ground floor office space has risen to about Sh60 per square foot per month, a four-fold increase from an estimated Sh15 per square foot back in 2008.

Rwanda-Kigali

The city itself is a clean and green city, with the lowest crime of any capital city in the region. According to varied analytical reports, business regulations are now easier in Rwanda than say the average economy in Eastern Europe, Asia, Middle East, Latin America or Africa. The country rose to record 76 places in a recent World Bank's global survey. In Kigali alone, demand for housing is 8,000-10,000 units per year. The combined demand for housing countrywide is estimated to be 25,000 units per year; this however, is still low compared to Kenya.

The recent increase in foreign investments has created a shortage of upper end office space with fully equipped telecommunications, utilities, and power.  Back in 2007, Rwanda's development and public works sectors experienced a 10 percent growth, creating a shortage of fully functional office space and residential housing. Office rent on average for instance at Kimironko area range from US$165 to about US$490.

Uganda- Kampala

On average, a square meter of office space ranges between US$14-17 in Kampala. This is however an improvement from 5 years ago, when the same space went for US$20. You notice that the Standard form of measurement is different from Kenya. Kenya mode of measuring office space is shillings per square feet, while Uganda it is shillings per square meters. 1 square meter is equals to 10.764 Sq. feet. For Instance an office at Kampala CBD goes for approximately US$20 per square meter. In makerere and office space is at  US$ 12 per square meter. These high costs are partly associated with the high costs of construction, it now costs about US$400 to put up a square meter of office space in Nairobi and US$640 in Kampala. This in overall compared to Kenya indicates that renting office space in Nairobi is cheaper than Kampala.

Tanzania-Dar es salaam

PPF TOWER BUILDING DAR ES SALAAM TANZANIA

In Dar es Salaam office space is divided into categories according to facilities and location. Grade A spaces are state-of-the art properties, such as PPF tower, Mirambo 50, Exim Tower and BoT Twin Towers, whose office rents are based on $16-20 per sqm. In grade B properties, like Sukari House and Haidery Plaza, the rent ranges from $10-16 US per sqm. Office space in grade C buildings such as NIC Investment House ranges from $7.5-10 while rents in grade D properties are $5-7.5 per sq.m.

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