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Lagos — The big hotel industry story this year is a dramatic surge in interest from hotel chains in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Trevor Ward, managing director of Lagos-based consultancy W Hospitality Group.
“The continent generally has never been an easy place to do business, and is likely to remain more challenging than Europe, or even China,” he said.
“However, the lack of quality hotel rooms, not just in the capitals, but also in the secondary cities, is so marked that the major international chains now cannot ignore the opportunity.”

New research by W Hospitality reveals a marked divergence in activity when it comes to hotel development in Africa.
For the first time since the survey began in 2009, the international and regional hotel chains are signing more deals in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) than in North Africa.

The 49 countries of SSA have a development pipeline that is over 40 percent greater than the five countries in North Africa.
By contrast, North Africa, which has experienced negative growth in 2014, continues to be negatively impacted by the unrest in many markets in the region, particularly Egypt, where projects have either been suspended or cancelled.

“There are three trends we are observing in Africa, which act like a virtuous circle, namely cessation of conflict, economic growth and investor confidence,” said Jonathon Worsley, chairman of Bench Events, which organises the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (Ahif).

“At present that virtuous circle has very positive momentum.”
The number of branded hotel rooms planned for SSA has risen consistently since 2011 — from 13,700 in 2011 to 23,283 rooms in 2014.

The number of hotel deals signed has also increased sharply, from 77 hotels in 2010 to 142 hotels in 2014.
This represents growth of 84 percent over the five-year period and a compound annual growth rate of 13 percent. — AFP.