The offices with gleaming metal and glass everywhere would not look out of place in Silicon Valley. Stephan Ekbergh, CEO and founder of online travel comparison engine Travelstart, smiles as he plays the role of guide around an entire floor of prime real estate in Cape Town’s Long Street.

“We moved into this office in 2008,” he says. Climbing up a fire escape, he walks around a half-completed floor, with an in-house restaurant in one corner. The topmost floor is completely barren.