Africa’s real estate sector is at a pivotal juncture, driven by unprecedented advances in AI, digital platforms, and strategic capital deployment.

Against this backdrop, the Annual Africa PropTech Forum, hosted at the Africa Property Investment (API) Summit, will bring together industry leaders, investors, and innovators in Cape Town on the 19^th of September 2025.

The pan-African forum will highlight how rapid tech advances are enabling faster decision making, innovative asset development, and more transparent management across the continent’s diverse property landscape.

Under the API Summit’s broader theme of ‘Growth through Adventure’, the forum will also showcase how cutting-edge tech unlocks efficiencies and opportunities.

Michael Lenz, CEO of TransBridj, a forum sponsor, believes that technology can be harnessed to revolutionize property transfer processes across Africa. TransBridj offers a secure, tech-driven platform that combines automated workflows, real-time data processing, and digital document verification to streamline bridging finance — a major bottleneck in African real estate.

“TransBridj leverages African-developed cutting-edge digital technology to offer sellers, realtors, and attorneys swift and seamless access to bridging funding. Its automated platform eliminates cumbersome paperwork by enabling instant approvals and secure fund disbursements within 24 hours,” he explains. “This technology-driven process improves cash flow, accelerates deal closures, and provides early commission access — helping clients manage liquidity effectively and complete property transactions with confidence and ease.”

AI is fundamental to TransBridj’s value proposition in meeting the demands of tomorrow’s real estate ecosystem. “We’ve built the platform using modular, Application Programming Interface (API)-first architecture, allowing each component from digital contracting to AI-driven insights to operate independently yet cohesively with interoperability at its core, where it can tap into external sources of information and collaborate with other sources of information.”

In the rapidly evolving world of AI, trust is paramount. TransBridj’s platform secures every transaction from start to finish, with rules built in from the beginning. This ensures a safe, smooth process for everyone, whether a first-time rural seller or handling big property deals.

Similarly, RE-TECSolutions tackles the endemic challenge of fragmented data and manual processes in property management.

Aileen Rodel, CEO of RE-TEC Solutions, emphasizes the critical role of integrated digital platforms in overcoming fragmented data and manual reporting in retail and commercial real estate management in Africa. RE-TEC Solutions was built to address the industry’s pain points arising from disparate systems and workflows. The company’s platform consolidates tenant engagement, lease management, customer analytics, and reporting into a single seamless ecosystem.

“In African markets, where infrastructure and system consistency vary widely, the ability to plug into existing environments while standardising processes is a game-changer. We’re not just digitising tenant and property management — we’re creating intelligent, connected frameworks that allow stakeholders to act faster, collaborate better, and make data-backed decisions with confidence,” she says.

The results and benefits for clients using RE-TEC Solutions’ platform are tangible.

One client saw a 24% increase in turnover within three months by applying location and shopper data insights, while another achieved a 40% increase in footfall share over six months using real-time competitive intelligence.

MRI Software, a market leader in commercial real estate software, will showcase the power of a flexible, open platform approach that facilitates technology and AI integration for diverse property portfolios at the Africa Proptech Forum.

MRI’s platform empowers property professionals to streamline lease administration, arrears management, and tenant communications, significantly reducing fragmentation and manual effort.

MRI points to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town as a flagship example. After adopting MRI’s Property Management X platform integrated with AI-driven Agora Insights, the iconic mixed-use development gained a real-time, unified view of operations across residential, retail, hospitality, industrial, and marine assets. The outcome? Reduced administrative burden, accelerated decision-making, and enhanced tenant experience.

MRI’s flexible, modular design lets clients build and update their tech systems to fit their needs, handling things like multiple currencies and complex ownership easily. Significantly, MRI addresses critical challenges such as energy use reduction, ageing infrastructure, and rising costs through AI-enhanced maintenance workflows and Internet of Things integration.

“Technology is key to smarter facilities management. Our AI-powered platforms help teams monitor assets more effectively, automate routine tasks, and make real-time, data-led decisions amid Africa’s infrastructure complexities,” says Waldo Marcus, the Director of Marketing for MRI Software.

MRI also invests in human capacity through training and strategic support, ensuring AI adoption is both feasible and profitable for property investors and facility managers across the continent.

Technology’s potential is unlocked by strategic capital allocation.

Peter Clark, Managing Partner at REdimension Capital, highlights how the firm backs PropTech innovations that target critical inefficiencies in real estate operations, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) compliance, demand aggregation, and tenant experience across Africa.

“We back technologies solving immediate, high-friction problems – whether it’s boosting operational efficiency (like Admyt for parking/payments), enhancing ESG compliance (like RE-TEC), unlocking new revenue streams (like RoomKing for short-stay space), or providing AI-native infrastructure for lease abstraction and analytics. The common thread is clear: lower costs, improved revenue, better risk management, superior decision-making, and enhanced customer experiences.”

REdimension Capital goes beyond just capital. “Our edge is hands-on support”, Clark emphasizes. “We help founders refine product-market fit, leverage our extensive real estate network to open doors to major landlords and occupiers, and provide company-building support – recruiting talent, shaping go-to-market strategies, and facilitating connections between portfolio CEOs to build best-in-class, interoperable solutions.”

For institutional investors like Burstone Real Estate Partners, technology is a strategic tool to optimise core assets.

“We invest in Proptech and AI because it helps us reach the masses and an audience of one. Data-driven insights per sector allow us to respond with agility, tailoring our approach to evolving client needs. But insights alone aren’t enough; it’s about people and processes turning intelligence into action,” says Burstone’s Head of Operations Yvette du Toit.

Burstone views technology as essential for transparency and efficiency within a core investment strategy. “Our business is property, not tech,” du Toit clarifies. “But smart technology reduces friction and makes it easier to do business with us. We seek partners who understand our industry, drive innovation, and adapt to client needs. The tech we invest in must be scalable, adaptable, and create long-term value aligned with our strategy.“

Underscoring its support of technology solutions, Burstone is a sponsor of the Annual PropTech Innovation Awards, which seeks to recognize the growth of the PropTech sector and the key role it plays in real estate. Winners will be announced at a gala dinner on 18 September 2025.

The Annual API Summit Africa Proptech Forum arrives at a critical moment. Rapid advances in AI and digital platforms are converging with increasing investor appetite for solutions that address Africa’s unique challenges – from fragmented markets and infrastructure gaps to the urgent need for sustainability and financial inclusion.