Accor SA, a French multinational hospitality company, plans to open seven hotels in Ethiopia by 2020, senior official of the company has said.
Mark Willis, CEO for Middle East and Africa of the European hotel operator on Monday in a statement said Accor will open a total of 60 new hotels in 14 countries in Africa in the next four years.
During the next two years, it will open more than half of them in Egypt, which Willis said is rebounding after external factors hurt the industry.
In 2015, an Islamic State affiliate blew up a Russian aircraft as it left the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in an attack that killed 224 people.
Key markets in Accor’s growth plan include Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa, where it will open 10, seven and three hotels respectively by 2020.
Accor has 143 hotels in Africa, 63 of them south of the Sahara, and will promote its Movenpick luxury brand, Willis said.
The hotel group will finance the growth with more than $1billion from the Kasada Fund set up by Katara Hospitality and Accor in 2018 for sub-Saharan Africa.
Accor invested $150 million, while the Qatar Investment Authority unit put in $350 million. The remaining $500 million will be raised through bank loans, according to Willis.
It may expand through mergers, acquisitions and partnerships on the continent, including in SA, where Accor is already considering several opportunities, Willis said.
MG/abj/APA