From News24. Story by Biénne Huisman.

Cape Town’s multimillion-rand trophy homes are being snapped up by rich Nigerians, Angolans and Zimbabweans who fork out top dollar for luxury sea-facing properties in Cape Town, which they consider the Monte Carlo of Africa.

Real estate agents agree that Nigerians top the list when it comes to Africans investing in Atlantic seaboard homes with price tags of 20 million rand ($1.61 million US) and more.

In April, a mystery buyer from the Nigerian commercial capital, Lagos, forked out 78.6 million rand ($6.28 million US) for two apartments that will be renovated to form one sprawling 450-square-meter (4,844 square feet) penthouse.

Parliamentarians and sports stars who frequent The Butcher Shop & Grill on the ground floor of the new bling Amalfi building in Mouille Point, Cape Town, probably don’t know that just seven floors above them, the penthouses are being joined and renovated to the tune of a further 10 million rand ($850,000 US).

As it is, the property features timber decks with swimming pools, space for a private gym, plant rooms and views of the mountain, ocean and Cape Town Stadium.

The glass-and-steel construction was designed by Fabian Architects who worked on international casino magnate Sol Kerzner’s private Leeukoppie Estate near Hout Bay and his five-star One&Only hotel that flanks the V&A Waterfront.

Denise Dogon of Dogon Group Properties, the agency that sold the penthouses, declined to name the buyer, citing client confidentiality.

“We’re talking Nigerian royalty with a London School of Economics background. A man with business interests around the world,” she said.

PropStats sale reports indicate that about 20 Cape Town trophy homes – mostly along the Atlantic seaboard, which stretches from the V&A Waterfront along the coast to Hout Bay – were sold to well-heeled Nigerian buyers over the past two years.

They include a 55 million-rand ($4.43 million US) penthouse at the One&Only sold by Seeff in 2013.

Ian Slot of Seeff said: “We first noticed an increase in African buyers on the Atlantic seaboard in about 2012.

“There’s been significant growth, especially the petro-rich countries like Nigeria and Angola. They buy high-value properties.”

As far as South Africa’s more direct neighbors in the Southern African Development Community region are concerned, there has also been an increase in buyers from Zimbabwe and Namibia, with a few 5-million-rand–and-lower purchases by Mauritian residents.

Dogon said: “Buyers from Nigeria and other African countries love it here. They see Cape Town as the Monte Carlo of Africa.

“The rise in property investment is not surprising given South Africa’s role on the continent and an increase in visitors and business from Africa.”

Read more at News24.