This archive report was first published on 23 June 2021.
As the world slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nairobi office market continues to face challenges. According to Knight Frank's inaugural Africa Office Market Dashboard for Q1 2021 report, published on June 23, 2021, the city's office market performance remains under pressure due to lockdown restrictions imposed towards the end of the first quarter of the year.
Anthony Havelock, Head of Agency at Knight Frank Kenya, notes that the oversupply of commercial space in most districts across the city, combined with the slowly recovering economy and working from home dynamic, has given occupiers the upper hand in lease term negotiations. This has forced landlords and developers to be more flexible.
However, Havelock observes that as the global vaccination rate increases and some lockdown measures improve, multinational occupiers are looking to re-occupy their spaces and re-evaluate their strategies, leading to increased market activity.
"There remains an oversupply of commercial space in most districts across the city which together with the slowly recovering economy and working from home dynamic has given occupiers the upper hand in lease term negotiations and forced landlords/developers to be more flexible," Havelock said.
