It’s been a whirlwind ride for Atterbury’s Roux Gerber, who relocated his family to Ghana in June to oversee the final launch phase of the brand new Achimota Retail Centre in Accra. In less than a month, the doors into this new retail haven will open to the public. Is Accra ready…?
It’s been three months… how has your family adapted to life in Ghana?
My wife Tracy and I were in Mauritius before so we come from an expat community and we’re used to it, so the adjustment has not been too bad for us. The expat community is very welcoming and we have slotted in with ease, and most of our social life here revolves around events within the community.
But this is not the holiday destination that Mauritius is, there’s no blue coral sea, and the traffic is something else, so it has taken a bit of time.
What has been the biggest challenge about living in Ghana?
Everything here takes time and effort… nothing just happens easily, so you have to push from your side for everything, and be prepared that it will be difficult and slow. Ghana has everything you might need, but it is incredibly expensive – especially meat. A steak will cost you anything from R350 to R400, a meal in a restaurant for two, without wine, R600 to R700. All the expats get meat from home, when we come home three times a year or so, we bring an extra suitcase with 60 kilos of meat, which lasts you a while!
And did anything surprise you pleasantly about life there?
Yes, medical care is affordable and really good. We thought our son Graeson, who is 18 months old, might have contracted malaria; he had 10 of the 13 symptoms to look for according to Google, so we rushed him to hospital in the middle of the night. They were superfriendly and efficient, the doctor saw him immediately and took blood tests, and we were out of there 20 minutes later! (He did not have malaria!) As newcomers to a malaria country, we were understandably cautious, but you get educated and in fact you don’t hear of many people contracting it – they know exactly what to look for and how to treat it should it occur. Another great surprise was the great schools that are available – our son is still little, but the education options for children of expats here are brilliant, if a little expensive. And learning to drive on the wrong side of the road has also not been as scary as I’d imagined!
What still needs to be done at Achimota before next month’s launch?
At the moment we are doing final finishes, all the desnagging, so replacing chipped tiles and fixing scratches; installing lift doors, signage, cabling, bathroom fixtures, painting the bays in the parking garage, the landscaping is getting done… everything that had to be left to the end so it didn’t get damaged earlier. Tenants are busy with their installations in their shops and we are on hand to help where we can.
What are you most proud of regarding the development?
The layout and design of this mall, as well as the quality of all the elements used is unique in the city, and it is a model that will work elsewhere too – it’s partly open like a strip mall, and partly closed, the restaurants are located around the middle of the development. It really looks attractive, the colour scheme is great and inviting, the road access is easy, so you really feel like going in when you see it. The tenant mix is also fantastic.
What was the most challenging part of the job?
Getting the long-lead items… having to ensure that you order things early enough. Nothing is available locally and everything has to be imported if you want great quality, as we insist on. If you suddenly need a little screw there’s no Builder’s Warehouse you can run to, so planning is everything, and as I said before… everything takes time. Another huge challenge are with the tenants – many of them underestimate what it takes to open a shop in 90 days, or 60 days, or 30 days, and they easily fall behind schedule. We want every shop to open on opening day, 29 October, so we have to keep a very close eye on progress.
Have you seen much interest from the Ghanaians about the new mall?
Yes, very much so. We offer something that is totally unique in Ghana with shop rentals being payable monthly. The norm here for retail as well as domestic rentals is that you have to pay a year, two years, even five years’ rent in full, upfront. We had to pay a year’s rental on our house upfront, for instance! So what we offer is new, and affordable and that makes it very attractive for prospective tenants. As for the marketing to the public, we are starting with that in the next few days, and we will push hard in local media.
Can you share a fun story about the enthusiasm of one of the new tenants?
People are extremely enthusiastic, the one guy submitted a concept and on the exact same day that we approved the concept, his contractors arrived on site, raring to go. They get annoyed with us if they arrive on site on a Sunday afternoon and the site is closed; they expect operations to be going 24/7 so they can fall in at any time to carry on fitting their shop! It is wonderful to see this kind of engagement. They go to any lengths to stick to the rules, such as hard hats and correct footwear on site, because they want to do the right thing.
What can people look forward to on launch day?
We are planning a very full schedule, and it is all aimed at giving tenants maximum exposure. Something will be happening on every corner inside the mall – the local radio stations will be doing live broadcasts in the mall on the day, there will be a ramp with fashion shows, there will be food, there will be loads of activities for kids, there will be a number of spin and win chances with prizes to be won… It is going to be a big day!
