Nigeria holds its lead for hotel development in West Africa despite a slight reduction over last year, according to a regional pipeline survey from Lagos-based W Hospitality Group.
Nigeria, the giant of Africa, has the largest pipeline in West Africa (and the 2nd largest on the continent), with the concentration being in Lagos and Abuja, the commercial and political capitals, respectively. There is, however, an increasing number of deals being signed in other cities, such as Enugu, Port Harcourt, Onitsha and Benin City.
The pace of deal making in Nigeria has noticeably slowed down, with only six deals signed in 2017 compared to 10 in both 2015 and 2016, a reflection of the economic situation in the country. Hotel pipeline development in terms of total planned rooms for Nigeria is down 5.1% on last year, but it still has 4,146 rooms actually under construction, out of a total of 9,603 in 57 hotels.
Impressive strides have been made by Cote d’Ivoire, moving into the top five West African countries with 10 new hotels in the pipeline, a 205.7% increase on last year – 549 of the total 1,830 rooms are on site. All the planned hotels are in Abidjan, driven by multiple deals signed by AccorHotels and by Marriott International.
This reflects the confidence in the country as the return to democracy, after several years of civil war, have brought economic and political stability, with the IMF forecasting GDP growth of 7.4% this year, one of the highest on the continent.
Cape Verde is sustaining growth with 2,710 rooms now on site, up 15.3% on last year. Sao Vincente accounts for 28% of the country’s pipeline. Other developments are in Boa Vista, Mindelo, Praia, Sal and Santiago.
Senegal, with 17 hotels in the pipeline is another strong performer, up 16.2% on last year in terms of rooms – 80% are in Dakar. The remainder are in Cap Skirring and Mbour.
Total rooms 2018 v. 2017
Nigeria -5.1%
Cape Verde 15.3%
Senegal 16.2%
Cote d’Ivoire 205.7%
Ghana 12.2%
Marriott still heads the chains in the region – 26 planned hotels with 5,354 rooms, up 25% on last year. Louvre are also moving up – seven hotels with 807 rooms, an 83% increase. In total, the chains show a 10% increase on 2017 with 22,680 pipeline rooms in West Africa.
This year’s pipeline report, now in its 10th edition, has 41 contributors, reporting 418 deals with over 100 brands across Africa. Year-on-year performance for Africa as a whole in 2018 shows growth, but more muted than in recent years – 25% growth in the number of pipeline rooms in 2015; 19% in 2016, and 13% in 2017, much the same as the 13.5 per cent growth in 2018.
“The majority of projects in Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire are city centre, business hotels – in Cape Verde, however, the majority are beach resorts, where Melia has no fewer than five deals in its pipeline there, and an average of almost 400 rooms per hotel,” said W Hospitality Group’s Managing Director Trevor Ward. “Cape Verde benefits from its location quite close to the main generating markets in Europe, and from the volume of accommodation stock there which makes charter flights viable.”
Details of the survey, which covers the whole of Africa, will be one of the key discussions at the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF), which the Kenyan government has announced will return to Nairobi, in October this year.