Africa

What are Nairobi's best assets for business travellers and expatriates? Christelle Adjagba - First of all, the fact that Nairobi is very well served by all airlines. What's more, several United Nations international institutions are based here. The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), for example, has its world headquarters here. The...

Time difference in Kenya: GMT+3. Until 27/03: 2 hours ahead. At midday in Paris, it is 2pm in Nairobi. From 28/03 to 30/10: One hour ahead. At midday in Paris, it is 1pm in Nairobi. From 31/10: 2 hours ahead. At midday in Paris, it is 2pm in Nairobi. Currency and rates...

HOTELS Hotel Sankara [caption id="attachment_110293" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Hotel Sankara (c)DR[/caption] Located in the prosperous, semi-detached central district of Westlands, Hotel Sankara is a five-star establishment known for its contemporary style and business focus. A member of the Marriott Group's Autograph Collection, it boasts 250 square metres of meeting and banqueting space.

How do you analyse the impact of the Covid crisis on business tourism in Kenya? Augustin Bonniol - The pandemic has had the same impact on Kenya as on Africa and the rest of the world, with the first case of infection recorded on 12 March 2020. The Kenyan government reacted immediately with a number of strict measures as soon as...

The project has been slow to really emerge from the vast plains of the Machakos and Makueni districts, 70 km south-east of Nairobi. Yet the first phase of this vast futuristic complex is now well under way. More than seven years after it was launched by the Kenyan government - which had...

Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, is on the starting blocks to emerge from the health crisis with a return to growth. For years, this major economic and diplomatic hub of East Africa has struggled to shake off a reputation for crime and insecurity as unenviable as that of Lagos. The gamble paid off at the turn of the...

After the three weekly flights launched by Air Senegal to Lyon in March, the airline is continuing its international expansion. From 2 September, the carrier will be offering two weekly non-stop flights from Dakar's Blaise Diagne international airport to New York JFK....

While we wait for collective immunity to the Covid-19 virus, vaccination campaigns are being stepped up worldwide. However, there are major variations from one continent to another. These are the findings of an investigation by the New York Times. In partnership with the University of Oxford, the American daily has created a Covid barometer, which analyses the state of...

Will business travel to Africa quickly return to its pre-Covid form? Despite advances in vaccination, the shadow of PCR tests, quarantines and closed borders continues to haunt short business trips to the continent. It's an uncertainty that struck as early as 4 March 2020...

The evaporation of international air traffic to the African continent over several months will leave its mark. Overall, even with the recovery in the second half of 2020, the region is unlikely to have attracted more than 45 million passengers over the year, compared with 155 million in 2019. Worse still, the return to this...

How have your West African hotels coped with the Covid 19 crisis? Daniel Karbownik - From April 2020, we were initially affected because the European, American and Asian outbound markets were closing. A lot of hotels were closed and there was absolutely no traffic. But from July onwards, we...

South Africa, the continent's leading economic power, had barely recovered from a first deadly wave of the pandemic last year when it was faced with a new acceleration in infections, accompanied by an unfortunate coincidence: the 501Y.V2 variant of Covid 19, discovered by local scientists, was immediately dubbed the "South African variant"...

How have your customers' requirements changed since the start of the Covid 19 crisis? Cécile Caplin - The Covid crisis has brought with it a host of travel restrictions and the complexity of all movements and travel, both personal and professional. Overall, since March last year, we've entered a period of...

Regus has unveiled its plans for Togo, announcing on 12 February that it will open its first office in Lomé. Expected to open in the second quarter, the Regus Avenue de la Chance business centre will be located on the eponymous thoroughfare in the new "GTA Lomé II" administrative district to the north of the Togolese capital. The new Regus address...

How is the Onomo Group and its 21 hotels across Africa coping with the health crisis? Cédric Guilleminot - While the African leisure and top-of-the-range hotel industry has suffered as a result of the health restrictions imposed by governments, our mid-range and business positioning has enabled us to get through this...

Cairo has a new palace with the opening of a St. Regis, one of the luxury brands of the Marriott group. With butler service in every room and suite, a design that blends opulence, refinement and elegance, bronze and wood carvings embellished with flashes of gold, and crystal trimmings and chandeliers galore, the hotel, located in the heart of Cairo's...

The Radisson Hotel Group is launching its Radisson Collection luxury brand in Africa with the opening of a hotel in Bamako, Mali. Located in the ACI 2000 district, close to embassies and company headquarters, the hotel offers 200 spacious rooms, including 32 suites, with panoramic views of the River Niger and the...

The Radisson Hotel Group plans to at least double its long-stay offering in Europe, Africa and the Middle East by 2025. Currently, the number of serviced flats offered by the group in the EMEA region - 5,400 units in 45 establishments in operation or under development - represents almost...

How does Douala compare with the capital Youandé? Edouard Fochive - While Yaoundé is the country's economic capital, Douala is its political capital as well as a port city, as Cameroon has two maritime fronts: Douala and Kribi. However, Douala is currently the operational front in economic terms. The attraction of the city...