Africa: Algeria and Libya open their borders

The climate of insecurity in one country, the political regime in the other and their economic protectionism have put off investors. As a result, the hotel offer in Algeria and Libya, despite being rich in oil and gas, is still limited. But things are changing.

Novotel, Accor and Sheraton will no longer be the only foreign operators in Algiers for much longer. The Algiers Marriott Hotel and the Algiers Marriott Executive Appartments have been announced for 2012. Le Méridien, for its part, has chosen to make its move in Oran. Part of the conference hall will house a 3,000-seat auditorium, making it the largest conference centre in Algeria. Accor is continuing to expand in the face of these newcomers. In 2007, it opened two Novotel and one Ibis in Constantine. The latter brand is present at Algiers and Oran airports, and two other establishments are planned for 2011 in Tlemcen. The whole country is now attracting foreign companies and their executives.

Two Chinese and one Japanese company will build a motorway that will cross the country from east to west. And France's Piriou is planning to get involved in the launch of a ship repair and construction yard on a site yet to be defined. Further east, Tripoli is also whetting appetites. Since the normalisation of relations between President Gaddafi and the international community, Libya has signed contracts with several foreign companies in sectors as varied as cement, petrochemicals and banking. A new windfall for hoteliers. Corinthia and Radisson Blu are already present, while an Intercontinental and a Sheraton are under construction. The five-star Starwood Hotels & Resorts hotel will again be part of a vast complex with a conference centre, to which a Four Points will be added at a later date.