Real estate education across the globe has, at its core, certain universal and value-neutral skills and knowledge. This knowledge has developed over decades to reflect the functions of specific market structures which characterise real estate markets. Moreover, it is reflective of the maturity of property markets, and as such, the tools developed reflect specific market structures. Real estate analysts are becoming increasingly interested in real estate markets in emerging markets/economies, particularly in Africa. The challenge facing these analysts is that dominant real estate theory is based on mature markets within an industrialised context and therefore do not accurately reflect real estate markets in emerging economies. The context of real estate markets in emerging economies tend to be characterised by a dual economy, a lack of transparency in the market, high levels of uncertainty, and the existence of communal/customary and informal rights in the ownership of real estate. In light of this, it is argued that real estate theories should better reflect the peculiarities and level of maturity of the markets they attempt to analyse.

Through the application of qualitative, semi-structured interview surveys with academics from several prominent African institutions specialising in real estate, this research examines the academic syllabus taught by universities to assess the degree to which local real estate markets are integrated into African university programmes. This will serve as a basis for developing an understanding of the multi-disciplinary knowledge base required in order to allow graduates to succeed in contextually diverse real estate markets.