Platform Africa is proud to be a Media Partner of the first edition of the Mauritius Real Estate Awards to be held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Balaclava, on Thursday 30 November. We caught up with Bryan Wester, organiser of the awards and Managing Director of PropertyCloud.mu to find out why he decided to launch the awards as a way to recognise the achievements of those in the real estate sector.
How did you get started in the real estate sector in Mauritius?
Throughout my career I’ve been involved in the proptech industry, specifically property marketplaces throughout the continent of Africa. Serendipitously, they all had registered operations out of Mauritius which allowed me to travel here regularly for the past 10 years.
More recently in 2020, I was offered the opportunity to join a new startup that had just launched in Mauritius – PropertyCloud.mu. After successfully navigating a challenging period during the Pandemic which severely impacted the entire Mauritian real estate landscape, I was offered the opportunity to lead the business and subsequently became a Shareholder. Taking the role of Managing Director to continue driving the company forward.
How do you see the development of the sector in the past few years? Are you seeing a resurgence of interest in the post-COVID era?
Extremely positive. The activity of the industry is active and growing at a rapid rate. The pipeline on new projects coming onto the market is extensive and equally matched by strong demand – both locally and internationally. This is evident in statistics coming out of the EDB Mauritius indicating YoY transaction growth for designated foreigner schemes. As well as projects dedicated to Mauritian citizens experiencing strong sales numbers on launch.
What inspired you to launch the first edition of the Mauritius Real Estate Awards?
There are many stakeholders contributing significantly to the growth of the real estate market in Mauritius. We felt it’s time to create a formalized process that would recognise and celebrate the pioneers making an impact. And in the process of doing so, make this eligible to all players in the market through open submissions of entries and an industry-leading judging panel to evaluate all projects based on a set of predefined key criteria. With the ultimate objective to identify and acknowledge the top achievers leading the way.
What are the different categories you have chosen to recognise those in the sector?
We have chosen to recognise 3 categories namely; Estate Agency Sector, Commercial Sector, and Residential Sector. Each having multiple awards within them. These range from Agencies who’ve contributed positively to the industry in their efforts, including the Top Agency in Mauritius as ranked by annual turnover. To Coworking spaces, Office Buildings, Apartment Buildings, Residential housing estates, and Mixed-use Projects shaping the future of Mauritius, amongst others.
Overall, we hope this initiative is well received by the market as our main intention is to create an evening of celebration, collaboration, and recognition of those who have made a positive impact to the real estate sector of Mauritius.
