Recently, the JLL Nigeria team had the good fortune of working with Riaan Fourie of the JLL SSA Valuations team on a valuation missions in Lagos. The SSA valuation team had been asked by a global real estate development company to carry out a real estate portfolio asset valuation for all of their properties in Lagos, Nigeria. Riaan Fourie from the SA office visited Lagos for the first time for this assignment and I had the pleasure of being his Nigerian buddy for a couple of days. Together with the rest of the JLL Nigeria staff, our objective was to assist Riaan with the site visits and provide local market knowledge and insights. The JLL Nigeria team had visited the sites for this client prior to Riaan’s arrival so we were well prepared in advance.
The real estate portfolio included a diverse range of properties – from Grade A office developments, to luxury residential properties as well as a fairly distant road trip to a land bank on the Lagos coast line with breath-taking views of the Atlantic Ocean. We were able to exchange information throughout the site visits and provide additional data as part of the valuations mission.
The JLL Nigeria team also discovered that Riaan was actively involved with the RICS in Africa. Riaan’s trip coincided with a RICS event he was hosting in Lagos which he graciously opened up to the JLL Nigeria team to attend. We didn’t disappoint! Tolu Ogundero (JLL Nigeria Corporate Solutions Team), Gideon Adesiyan (JLL Nigeria PDS Team), Jude Okeke (JLL Nigeria Intern) and I were very privileged to attend this gathering where we were able to meet with current members and fellows of the RICS as well as aspiring candidates as ourselves.
The RICS event was organised to address a number of challenges aspiring candidates encounter during the application and assessment process and how these obstacles can be overcome. It also provided an important backdrop to Riaan’s visit as it emphasised the importance of the RICS certification as a global recognition within the real estate industry. The JLL Nigeria team members are all now aspiring candidates of RICS Africa – many thanks Riaan!