More than 500 new establishments are expected in Africa over the next few years, according to research firm W Hospitality. For Philippe Gauguier, Senior Consultant at In-Extenso, this figure "represents a significant increase in the number of new establishments. is not surprising. Morocco alone currently has around a hundred projects. In the city of Casablanca alone, I have counted around thirty serious projects in progress, as well as around fifteen in Rabat.. "
Ongoing development
Accor, Hilton, Marriott, Radisson: the major international groups are not the only ones to be multiplying their projects on the continent. Pan-African groups such as Azalaï Hotels, launched in 1994 with its first establishment in Bamako - Mali being the homeland of its founder Mossadeck Bally - are looking to expand. where Africa is developing. And this takes into account both the imponderable risks and the immense opportunities, between the possibility of several countries simultaneously falling into a political crisis, for example, but also of another becoming a must-see destination for investors.
In February 2025, the Azalaï Group will open its ninth hotel on the continent, at Ouagadougouin Burkina-Faso. This country, now ruled by Captain Ibrahim Traoré following a coup d'état in 2022 and a member of the Alliance of Sahel States, has just left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Azalai Hotels group has taken over and renovated a ransacked and very run-down facility in the capital, extending it from 176 to 232 rooms, in addition to 13 meeting rooms.
What might seem a risky gamble for an international group is not so for a pan-African hotelier, unafraid to bet on Africa's economic future. In the same way, founder Mossadeck Bailly did not hesitate ten years ago to invest in an establishment in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, being a destination that was not very popular at the time and a veritable hotel desert for business travellers.
But today, the country, which is due to welcome a Sheraton hotelhas become a new energy Eldorado with large gas reserves and a future boom in green hydrogen. All the more reason for the hotel industry to look to the future: " We have a number of renovation projects, notably in Mauritania, where we are going to renovate and extend our existing facility." says Donald Aka, Managing Director of Salam Management Service, a subsidiary of the Azalaï Group. At least two construction projects are also underway in Guinea and Cameroon, in the economic centre of the port of Douala.
African DNA
To support its development, the group has learnt to rely on one of the strongest values of its identity: its pan-African character. "The Group's DNA is to offer a hotel business with international standards, but with a strong focus on quality. giving travellers the best possible image of the continentwhile retaining an African soul, so that they can discover a small part of Africa in our hotels.says Donald Aka, This is why we need to have recourse to human resources who are familiar with African values and culture and can share them with others." .
This is why we have opted for a strong local presence in the countries where the Group operates, and for a strong local presence in the countries where the Group operates. priority given to training. A school in Bamako and a centre in Ouagadougou offer young people training subsidised by the hotel group and provide at least half of Azalai Hotels' new recruits. Regular partnerships and exchanges with the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, the hotel schools ofAbidjan and Cotonou.
But in the face of these assets, the current financial context continues to complicate the rounds of the table investment in the African hotel sector. They must also take into account the specific characteristics of the continent: "Interest rates are relatively high. They are well over 5-6 %, and even higher in some countries.says Philippe Gauguier, The financial gymnastics are also different there, often with a higher proportion of equity. In Europe, bankers require 30 % of equity, but in Africa, equity very often exceeds 50 %, so financial packages are more difficult." . This is an unfavourable situation for a continent where investment lead times are not the same as in the West: " there are no instruments for very long-term financing, up to 20 years" notes Donald Aka.
An environmental ambition
In this environment, the group's expansion into English-speaking Africa has not yet materialised, primarily because of the pandemic. Since then, according to Azalaï, the figures point to a complete return of bookings to their pre-2019 level. This is not stopping the pan-African hotel group from refining its strategy by combining the creation of new hotels with a policy of management mandates that could more easily open the doors to Southern Africa and the East of the continent.
Its subsidiary Salam Management Services, 90% of which is owned by the group and 10% by staff, is continuing to expand the number of establishments under management. To win them over, the group can count on its second trademark: environmental awareness. The group hasa department dedicated to green energy. The hotel in Bamako already draws almost 40% of its electricity consumption from a photovoltaic field, and the group has similar ambitions for its other establishments. A concern for the environment which, in time, will also lead to a rationalisation of energy costs.
