Oshogwe: Be Agile, Flexible, Diversify Investments to Handle Uncertainties in Real Estate

Bennett Oghifo

Managing Director/CEO, Afriland Properties Plc, Mrs. Uzo Oshogwe has advised real estate business owners to explore new systems to enable them to navigate the challenges in the sector.

Oshogwe identified some challenges faced in real estate as economic instability, developers facing infrastructure deficits and market fluctuations.

She shared her thoughts in a presentation, ‘Real Estate/Leadership and Strategy for Business Growth in a VUCA Economy’ at the annual general meeting of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) Nigeria. They also performed the induction of 26 new fellows, at the event that was held in Lagos, recently. Oshogwe in a presentation,‘Real Estate Leadership and Strategy for Business Growth in a VUCA Economy.’ VUCA is the acronym for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in the economy.

Causes of volatility in Real estate, she said, are “changes in the nation’s policy and fluctuations in markets in managing all these challenges. It always affects us as business owners. Causing project delays, cost overruns, and the most painful one is actually having investors lose their confidence in our business. Which is actually the impact of volatility in businesses.”

She said to handle this as a business owner, “You have to be agile, know how to rapidly respond to market changes; You have to be flexible in your project management, have a robust risk management framework, look at diversification of your investments and also diversification of your products, and you have to have hedging strategies in place if you’re going to beat volatility.”

To handle Uncertainty in business or real estate, she said, “Consider financial modeling, put your contingency in place; data driven decisions. “Unfortunately, you cannot because of yesterday’s scenario plan tomorrow, because it’s so uncertain, to now begin to think outside the box. Look at your predictive analytics; Market research is key; Complexity. Our regulatory framework is not very friendly; Stakeholder and vendor coordination.

“Technology advancements, you can’t underestimate that because in order to move forward with the times, technology plays a big part, by increasing operational costs, coordination challenges because of the framework complexity of everything that you have in the space, because of the volatile and VUCA economy we found ourselves in.

“Technology applications will increase very, very quickly to help us become a lot more agile. It is then able to be creative in real estate. And this is clearly due to lack of clear information. “We have made some progress in this area, because a few years ago, data did not exist. But it’s different now. If we always share our data, we’ll be able to work better. And this will actually help better inform decision making and also prevent misstep in your strategy plan.

“As a business, you must have clear visions, your values are so key. When you bring someone into your company, they most understand what your leadership visions are equally from the driver to the cleaner, management and even your board.”

She advised real estate business owners to encourage partnership. Stakeholder engagement that is so key. You must be transparent, you must be able to communicate effectively with your stakeholders, you must carry people along. That’s the only way you can foster trust.”

The importance of clear and flexible strategic vision cannot be underestimated, she said. “So, to mar volatility, you must have a clear vision, you must provide stability and direction amidst rapid changes.

“You have to be flexible in your vision as well to allow adaptation in line with the market changes. How to manage uncertainty, clear vision as well, to reduce ambiguity by setting clear timelines and goals that are measurable.”

Addressing the new members and leaders, President, FIABCI Africa and Near East Region, Adele Adeniji, urged them to comply with the oath of allegiance, and not to breach the trust and confidence imposed on them. 

He charged the new exco to “ensure that FIABCI-Nigeria continues to thrive both locally and internationally, as well as bring fresh ideas, and innovative solutions, and enhance collaboration with other professionals in the building industry.”

The FIABCI Nigeria outgoing President, Mr Gladstone Opara, said membership of the association has grown by about 200 per cent in the last two years, and that FIABCI Nigeria popularised and rebranded the association, while the young professional members’ council has remained active and instrumental in many of the webinars and study tours.

The association needs a permanent secretariat and plans are on towards securing office accommodation, he said, and urged members to put in more efforts toward reviving the FIABCI’s national councils of experts to enhance growth in knowledge in different aspects of real estate and promote members’ participation.

“We have used the tool of wide collaborations with other professional organisations to enlarge the coast of FIABCI Nigeria. We are all witnesses on how our collaborations with Knight Frank Nigeria, Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, and BuyletLive have yielded fruits in terms of growth in membership, finance and publicity,” he said.

FIABCI World President, Ramon Torroba, urged them to “play a crucial role in promoting ethical behaviour, embracing technology, professionalism and collaboration, as well as attracting the younger generation to the organisation and ensuring sustainable development in communities across the world.”