From Kuala Lumpur To Kigali, The Content Creator Promoting Real Estate

Real estate in Rwanda finds an unlikely champion in a Malaysian content creator who has caught the attention of international buyers. 

Ong Jun Feng, an entrepreneur in the real estate sector in Rwanda, literally stands for Rwanda’s rise over the years. The recent founder of Marvel Kigali, an online platform showcasing Kigali’s office towers, residential projects, and commercial spaces, he uses sites such as TikTok and YouTube to promote and sell some of the country’s shiny new property projects. 

Growing up in Malaysia and Singapore, and majoring in marketing, his first job had been with a big real estate developer in Malaysia. “I’ve always been into economics. I’m a tourist at heart, but I’ve spent the last ten years working in real estate,” Feng tells FORBES AFRICA.  

He first traveled to Rwanda in 2014, when he was asked to assist a real estate developer with market research. He spent eight months conducting intensive research, going floor by floor and door to door, speaking to residents about rent prices, location choices, and market demand. After completing his stint, he returned to Singapore, but the data he collected in Rwanda lingered in his mind. The scale and potential he saw in Rwanda drew him back to the hill country. 

Later that year, Feng returned on his own. “I started working with developers, providing market intelligence, what products were needed, and what price points made sense. I even began studying construction.” 

This led Feng to create an online presence to promote the real estate industry. Content creation in Africa is a fast-growing sector, with projections estimating the creator economy will grow to between $17.8 billion and $30 billion by 2030.  

“I’m really one of the doing this right now. Rwandans tend to be shy. If you look at most of the content out there, you rarely see a person on camera; it’s usually just videos of buildings or premises. But when my videos went out over the past 60 days, they reached one million views; without spending a single cent on ads or boosts. And that’s just on TikTok.”  

Feng says his videos have given him an international audience. “I’ve become a key point of connection for members of the Rwandan diaspora who want to learn about the property market here. In the past month, I’ve sold two apartment units to Rwandans living in Canada, without ever meeting them in person. The videos were enough to build their trust.”  

He also recently sold a home to an American who connected with him via TikTok. 

Rwanda’s real estate sector is projected to reach a value of $95.70 billion in 2025, according to a recent Statista report. Of that, residential property is expected to be worth $84.85 billion. Statista believes the real estate market will grow by 3.57% between 2025 and 2029, reaching a market volume of approximately $110.10 billion by 2029.