UAP.
Urban Africa
Partners.
We are UAP.
An urban investment and development company.
We acquire, reshape and operate urban nodes in Africa’s most dynamic cities.
Urbanisation is a one-way, non-cyclical trend which defines Africa’s future. Ours is the fastest urbanising continent, with 450m new city dwellers by 2040. Most of them young.
The built environment hasn’t caught up to serve the demographic.
We develop districts that are green and thriving. We build them for the dynamic, educated African professional, founder or creative whose income and tastes have outgrown their city.
We invest in central, non-prime, urban areas in cities we think will benefit from Africa’s urbanisation and economic growth. We renovate, activate, and operate at street and neighbourhood scale.
Globally, buildings account for roughly 39% of energy-related emissions, and in African cities they already produce more than half. We think a carbon-neutral modernisation of Africa’s cities is imperative. UAP applies IFC-EDGE guidelines to all its buildings.
UAP is building a pan-African platform combining assets and operations.
We launched our first project in Nairobi, Kenya. We’re launching in a second city: Lagos, Nigeria in 2027
Our first site is a centrally placed, historically cultural node in Nairobi, Kenya. Similar to case studies in Dumbo or Tribeca in 1990s New York, Shoreditch in 1990s London or Braamfontein, Johannesburg in 2005. In our Nairobi project we have one of the city’s two vintage picture houses, proximity to several universities and the planned electric bus route, and we sit between Nairobi’s two prime nodes: Westlands and the Central Business District (‘CBD’).
We purchased our first buildings for our Nairobi project in June 2022. Transformative work can be seen in the gallery below. IG @ngaraspaces. We’re intervening in the public realm and creating inclusive spaces respectful of social cohesion in the areas we develop. See our building gallery below.
Thought leadership.
Research, case studies and thought pieces behind UAP’s investment strategy and development approach.
// African Cities 2035: Economist Intelligence Unit・The Economic Power of Africa’s Cities: OECD and UNECA・Better Finance Better Built Environment: Systemiq and NREP on decarbonising cities・Efficient and balanced space use: Systemiq・IFC EDGE: Program Summit and Building Green: Sustainable Construction in Emerging Markets report・Urban Partners Sustainability report, outlining an innovative position in the institutional RE sphere・Google Sidewalk Labs: Urban Innovation guidelines and program・Harvard MBA case study on the misunderstood risk/reward of urban investing; Canyon Johnson Urban Fund・Two Trees (NY)・Play Braamfontein (JHB)・Laguna MX (MEX City)・Shoreditch Village (LDN)・Re-Urbano (MEX City) urban revitalization case studies・Commercial Retrofit Innovation Map: https://ukgbc.org/resources/commercial-retrofit-innovation-map・Africa’s Explosive Growth in Cities: Financial Times ・Monocle: The Perfect City Block・OECD, the African Development Bank (AfDB), Cities Alliance, and UCLG-Africa: Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2025・
Contact us.
Urban Africa Partners Holdco Limited (Co. No. 16839533)・The Kensington Building, 1 Wrights Lane, London W8 5RY, United Kingdom・+44(0) 20 4646 9510・info@urbanafrica.com
Ngara, Nairobi, June 2026