Dual currency funding structures can bring stability and robustness to real estate deals in sub-Saharan Africa, as developers and retailers seek solutions to the volatility currently faced in their domestic economies, Adeniyi Adeleye, Head of Real Estate Finance for West Africa at Stanbic IBTC has said. “While property sector trends in West Africa are still positive, the main challenge has been currency volatility and related regulations,” he said. For example, a local currency facility can be accessed to hedge leases that are unlikely to be sustainable or easily adjusted in shock currency devaluation scenario, for defined periods. He said if the market stabilises it would also be simple to refinance local currency exposure back into foreign currency and then original lease assumptions and plans could then be achieved, unless macroeconomic indicators show that local currency funding has now become appropriate for these deals. It provides sound financial structuring, inbuilt buffers and flexibility into project funding structures, to accommodate for unexpected changes in the economic environments.