The potential of Africa for Crystal Lagoons®

Africa has an enormous growth potential for Crystal Lagoons®, as it is growing at an accelerated economic and social rate. It is mainly composed of young people and a growing middle class that increases both its purchasing power and the urbanization of the countries.

Additionally, many African countries are landlocked, and do not have access to the sea, so the opportunity to have a huge turquoise lagoon and white sand beaches in the city will be increasingly required.

Those are some of the reasons why Crystal Lagoons® is in a stage of expansion in Africa.

One of the reasons for the success of this technology in Africa, a region where water is a critical element, is sustainability. These lagoons are filled only once and operate in a closed circuit, using 30 times less water than a golf course and half that of a park of the same size. They can use any type of water: fresh, sea or brackish from underground waters without alternative use and, additionally, they allow rainwater to accumulate.

In this context, Crystal Lagoons® can contribute to this young continent from several areas: first, developing sustainable and quality infrastructure for the emerging urban centers of the region; second, providing safe and warm recreational areas; third, by improving the quality of life of some huge existing urban centers, and by renewing the use and increasing the value of little-used areas.

Crystal Lagoons® presence

Currently, the company has 29 projects on the continent. Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco and Angola are some of the African countries where the multinational water innovation company has real estate projects and Public Access Lagoons™, also known as PAL™, in different stages of planning, design, construction or operation.

Negotiations are also in progress to finalize licensing agreements in countries such as Botswana, Ghana and Kenya. Additionally, it negotiates a regional master agreement and, in Morocco, meetings with a local operator to develop nine PAL™ in Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat, Tangier, Fez and Saidia.

The most important market today is still Egypt, with more than 20 projects in different stages. In fact, the second largest crystalline lagoon in the world is located in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh.

The second market is South Africa, where the partnership with leading local real estate developer Balwin Properties has been tremendously successful with six real estate projects. The newest residential project is Munyaka, an ultra-luxury complex highlighted by the President of the Republic, Cyril Ramaphosa, who noted that Munyaka “will give life to the South Africa we long for, promoting its economy through infrastructure. This is the way to build great communities”. In parallel, the development also won over buyers, since 550 apartments were sold in just four days.

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