In October last year, Rocket Internet launched Lamudi, the real estate version of its “mudi” startup branches — Carmudi being its online vehicle shop cousin. Lamudi, as a brand, united tens of the German incubator’s housing startups under one banner, and since launching in Uganda it claims to be the largest real estate listing site in the Central East African country.
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The Rocket Internet giant has steamrolled across most continents with an overall number of twenty-one Lamudis currently in operation in countries such as Algeria, Bangladesh, Columbia, Ghana, Kenya, Mexico and Nigeria. Meeting the demands of informative housing purchases and renting, Lamudi has over one million monthly visitors across around the world.
Given Uganda’s positive stats — 2.89% population growth, an emerging middle class, and an annual 3.4% GDP increase — Lamudi is hoping to fill the gap by servicing the rapidly growing real estate sector in big cities like Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja.
Shakib Nsubuga, Lamudi Uganda Country Manager stated that according to the World Bank that Uganda’s population was 36.4-million people strong in 2013 and is only set to grow. “A service of this type is needed to further support Uganda’s fast growing real estate market especially in the big cities like Kampala, Entebbe, Jinja and surrounding areas.”
He adds, “currently, there is an increased demand for more affordable housing, with only a fraction being currently met. This remarkable growth is due to an increase in local and foreign investment.”
The Lamudi platform not only enables people to buy, rent or sell a private or commercial property, but it also offers real estate agents and property providers a personalised webpage, lending them a trusted online presence and a way to manage their inventory. This appears to be very appealing in the emerging markets where Lamudi currently operates.
Figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (2013) reveal that the real estate sector in Uganda is now one of the country’s major sectors and Lumudi.co.ug’s popularity since launch speaks to this.
