Institutional investor scores hotel industry growth in W/Africa high

Kingdom Hotel Investment (KHI), a Dubai-based institutional investor with strategic focus on emerging markets, says the hotel industry in West Africa is reaching a new level of luxury and sophistication in spite of relatively low level of economic development.

The investor, with a portfolio of 18 hotel properties across 13 countries, has almost 40 percent of its hotels worldwide in Africa having invested in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Ghana, Zambia and Kenya where it has three hotels.

“Our portfolio are predominantly in North Africa–Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt”, Axel Hauser, the general manager, Ambassador Movenpick Hotel in Accra, Ghana, told BusinessDay in an interview recently.

Movenpick Hotel Accra is KHI’s 5-Star hotel which, Hauser informed, has incorporated commercial facilities including retail outlets and conference rooms while the residential segment of the project known as Ambassador Heights is at advanced stage of construction.

Disclosing that Nigeria is their next investment destination, Hauser noted that “Nigeria has a big boost in business and we are looking to invest in the country, especially in Lagos which holds investment attraction”, adding that more hotels were coming up because there was demand.

Ivor McBurney, KHI’s vice president for finance and development projects, affirmed that Nigeria was up in their consideration for more investment in West Africa, saying, “Nigeria is strategic and key part of our consideration for further development in West Africa. We are definitely looking to invest in Nigeria. The country is a considerable focus to us; this is something we are looking closely at”.