Africa gears up for paid parking

Kate Wolfaardt, MD of Interpark says we are extremely positive regarding the future of Africa and the opportunities it offers.

Investors from Europe, Asia and the US are not the only ones chasing growth opportunities in Africa these days — Africans themselves are waking up to the potential across borders in their own backyard.

Responding to growing investment in African, South African based parking management company, Interpark said it is focused on increasing its footprint into the continent.

Interpark managing director Kate Wolfaardt says we are extremely positive regarding the future of Africa and the opportunities it offers, not only from our own business growth perspective but also in regard to providing technologically advanced service offerings and parking solutions in the various countries in Africa.

Currently Interpark has over 240 contracts across South Africa, Swaziland and Botswana, with its first site in Namibia due to commence in November this year (2013).

Says Wolfaardt: “Having first established our presence in Swaziland 10 years ago, we have entrenched our position in the market with operations in Swazi Plaza (a retail and office development), The Mall and The New Mall in Mbabane, and River Stone Mall and Bhunu Mall in Manzini. In Botswana we operate at Masa Centre, a mixed use development comprising offices, retail and hospitality components which is situated in Gaborone, while our new operation in Namibia will be situated on a large parking site at the sizeable Maerua Mall (comprising retail and offices) in Windhoek,” says Wolfaardt.

Interpark is a member of the Excellerate Property Services group and employs approximately 2 000 employees in total and our expansion into Africa is creating new job opportunities for local residents.

Trend towards pay on foot parking

Having operated for 40 years in South Africa, Interpark sees a high incidence of pay at exit sites, especially at small sites and hospitals. Naturally, the pay on foot model eliminates traffic congestion and facilitates ease of traffic flow, particularly in retail centres as pay on foot pay stations may be spread at several points for quick and efficient payment.

In Namibia the paid for parking industry began with pay at exit, with the airports being the first to adopt pay on foot technology about two years ago. At present Zimbabwe only has pay at exit sites due to the challenges with currency sets in recent years. In the rest of Africa, paid for parking is mostly on a pay at exit basis, mainly due to the local currency.

Africans are increasingly becoming accustomed to travel beyond their borders and abroad, being exposed to a prevalence of automated pay on foot parking facilities - and as long as the technological support for such equipment is available in these countries, we will continue to see growth in the pay on foot parking model in the continent.

Security is a vital component for any parking facility, not only from the landlord’s perspective and those utilising the parking, but also in terms of cash management at the pay stations. Additional products such as intercom and CCTV systems not only add to the security of the access and egress, but also of the cash management of the pay stations where pay on foot is employed.