DIGITAL transformation, sustainability, and innovation are some key considerations that Africa’s commercial property movers and shakers are grappling with in today’s fast-evolving industry.

Speaking at the East Africa Property Investment Summit this week, the managing director of Broll Uganda, Moses Lutalo, stressed the need for integrated digital solutions that would encompass property management, integrated facilities management, financial management, mobility and business intelligence.

The summit in Nairobi brought together investors, developers, and property leaders from more than 25 African and global countries to network, share information and conduct business in the fast-growing east African region.“Digital transformation has become key for the real estate industry globally and in Africa, with an increase in the number of processes and transactions that take place online. This was accelerated by the pandemic but has now become a driving force in itself and there is no turning back,” Lutalo said.

Off-the-shelf solutions might handle one aspect of property services, for example, arrears management. While this will do the job at hand, a solution that is not integrated with other parts of the financial, property and facilities management processes cannot be leveraged to uplift business processes, efficiencies, transparency and quality of data.