Africa Hotel Investment Forum (ahif) Podcast

Investing in the African Hospitality Industry: Challenges and Opportunities Are you looking to invest in the hospitality industry? Have you considered Africa as a potential market? In a recent podcast episode, Halla Matar Choufany, President of HVS in Middle East, Africa, and Asia, shared her insights on the challenges and opportunities in the African hospitality industry. Choufany highlighted the diverse markets in Africa, each at different stages of development. However, she sees potential in conducting feasibility studies to identify sustainable schemes that tie into the bigger picture of tourism infrastructure. Connectivity, financing, safety, and mindset are some of the challenges facing the African market, but changing the mindset around the difficulties of doing business in Africa could lead to finding solutions. Despite the economic slowdown, there is a migration of money into the Middle East and Africa, making it a good time to invest in Africa as the cost to acquire certain assets is lower compare

Best Western's Strategic Approach to Growth and Expansion in Africa and Beyond Best Western Hotel Group's recent acquisition of World Hotels and expansion into the luxury market is a reflection of their CEO's global growth strategy. With a goal of having 80 hotels in Africa by 2026, Best Western is actively working with existing hoteliers and owners to rebrand and expand their footprint on the continent. Wytze Van Den Berg, the Vice President EMEA, explains how Best Western has integrated the World Hotels team into their own, adding experienced professionals in the upper upscale and luxury segments to their team. Best Western will continue to use all of their brand names for consumer marketing purposes, but for B2B sales, they will reach out to clients as BWH Hotels. In addition to growth and expansion, Wytze also highlights the importance of cost savings and competitiveness in the industry. Rising labor, energy, and construction costs make it increasingly important to collectively source materials for constr

Welcome to the AHIF podcast featuring Stephan Sebah, VP of Development at Golden Tulip, as we delve into Africa's hospitality investment landscape. Gain valuable insights from his 20 years in the financial market, specializing in analysis, risk management, and investment strategies. Discover how his expertise seamlessly transitions into the hospitality industry, bridging the gap between investors and the sector. Stephan shares exciting updates about Golden Tulip, currently operating 11 hotels with 900 rooms across East Africa and the West Coast. Explore their ambitious growth plans, including four upcoming hotel constructions and discussions for potential partnerships in the pipeline. With a focus on local sourcing, sustainability, and empowering local communities, Golden Tulip is shaping the future of hospitality in Africa. Join us for an engaging discussion at AHIF, where we'll dive deep into topics like regional sourcing, sustainable practices, and the economic impact of the hospitality sector. Don't miss

Rishabh Thapar, Director at HVS Middle East and Africa, specializes in hotel realty development in emerging markets. With 15 years of experience across operations, development, pre-opening, and consulting, he has worked in diverse hotel markets in over 30 countries. He has undertaken individual and portfolio valuations, operator searches and management contract negotiations, market studies, strategic and transaction advisory for some of the leading hotel companies. Listen to Rishab in this insightful podcast as he talks about the emerging trends of conservation & climate awareness in the African hospitality sector. Hie gives an indepth analysis on how hotel chains have hotel chains have shifted their focus in favor of engaging the local community. He also highlights key leisure investment opportunities in East & South Africa.

CG Corp is a multinational conglomerate with  150+ hotels in 12 different countries. The group has a strong presence in East Africa and is constanly looking to expand into other parts of the contient.  Listen to Rahul Chaudhary, Managing Director & CEO of CG Corp Global as he discusses his strategy for Africa and outlines the four key pre-requisites that must be present in any country while looking to invest. Rahul also outlines the challenges that need to be addressed in facilitatiing international investment in Africa. 

The Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) podcast met up with Billy Cheung, Chairman of Century Park Hotel & Residencies – a new development in the heart of Kigali, Rwanda.  We talked about how he discovered the potential of both the African market and the opportunity to diversify his traditional business into the hospitality sector.  Billy gave AHIF more details of the project and details of his needs going forward.   

Announcing that the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) is, after a two year break with COVID, planning on bringing the investment community back to Sub-Saharan Africa Matthew Weihs, Managing Director or the Bench, spoke to Ramsay Rankoussi Vice President of Africa and Turkey at Radisson Hotel Group. We asked him about the past year which has been a successful one for the operator and what his expectations of the market in the coming 12 months, what changes to strategy they have had since COVID and where they will be focusing for future development.

In this AHIF podcast we spoke with Mark Willis, CEO of Turkey, India, Middle East and Africa at Accor. Sharing his new year’s resolutions with us we also took the time to look back at 2021 and the learnings taken from this turbulent period as well as exploring where he sees opportunities in the MEA region.

In this podcast we spoke to Fabio Nava VP of Capital Markets at JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality Group to understand the findings from the Annual Spotlight on Africa report they’ve recently published.  We explored how the pandemic has impacted the market and discussed the future opportunities for investment. 

We spoke with Imad Barrakad, CEO of the Moroccan Agency for Tourism Development (SMIT) about their thoughts on hosting the AHIF Marketspace digital event – with its focus on Morocco on 25 March 2021.  We asked Imad what the role of SMIT is, what the investment climate is currently and how now, in the backdrop of covid, what the investment opportunities are in Morocco.  You can register to attend the Marketspace for free at www.ahif.com

On the eve of our first digital “in focus” event for the Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) community, the Morocco Marketspace taking place on 25th March, I took the chance to speak to the Her Honourable Excellency Nadia Fettah Alaoui the Minister of Tourism, Handicraft, Air Transport and Social Economy about the tourism plans for the Kingdom.  We discussed where the travel situation is now, the support the Government have given the industry and the future incentives for investment and where, in her opinion, the potential opportunities are. 

In this podcast focused on #myAfrica we spoke to Yemisi Mokuolu CEO of Hatch Ideas and founder of the Asa Baako music festival in Ghana.  We explored what Africa meant to her through her work and the founding of this growing music festival. We discussed how this particular venture has developed into an event that is regenerating the local community through travel and tourism and how, now, the need has developed into the potential of investing in hotels for the area.   

In this podcast, we discussed with Hala Matar Choufany the President ME/Africa and South Asia for HVS the results of their recent survey on the Africa Traveller & Hotel Guest Sentiments. We discussed the main findings of the survey and how this will impact travel activity going forward for Africa.

In this AHIF podcast, we thought we’d turn the tables and ask the questions to Mary Gostelow, Owner and Editor of the Gostelow report, columnist and Editor of www.girlahead.com.  A fascinating discussion on her life and times and how she ended up the sage of the industry, how she approaches her work, and is able to extract such amazing insights. 

In this podcast we spoke with Trevor Ward, Managing Director of W Hospitality Group, about recent publishing of the 2020 African Hotel Chain Development Pipeline survey – the 12th annual report. Covid-19 has derailed the market as it has the global hospitality industry but we discussed how Africa was being impacted specifically and what it means for hotel development in the short, medium and long term. With that in mind and with the AfricaTomorrow (www.africa-tomorrow.com) event a month away – what we should be expecting from the online conference where Trevor will be presenting his pipeline report

In this podcast with Frederic van Lennep, we discussed how technology can be leveraged to build confidence in a post coronavirus world for hotels. We also explored what role technology would play, how a touch-less future can be created, and how this reflects the customer experience. Frederic also published a white paper recently on the importance of technology in post-COVID19 hotel operations which can be accessed here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/importance-technology-post-covid-19-hotel-operations-van-lennep/

In this podcast, we discussed Marek's journey from Poland to Africa and how his entrepreneurial spirit led him to Nigeria. We discussed his relationship with travel technology and the potential for the African market especially, post Covid-19, his thoughts on the outcomes for the industry and Africa.  

L’Afrique sera dans quelques années le centre du monde, affirme le magnat des affaires camerounais Mamoudou Fadil tout en renforçant son point de vue sur le potentiel à long terme de la croissance de l’immobilier hôtelier et du développement du tourisme sur le continent lors de son entretien avec Jean Perrochon. Africa will be on the centre stage of the world in a few years, states the Cameroonian business magnate Mamoudou Fadil while reinforcing his views about the long term growth potential for hotel real estate and tourism on the continent in an interview with Jean Perrochon.

This podcast, with Trevor Ward Managing Director of W Hospitality Group, canvassed his opinion on the state of the African hotel market. Looking at the key markets and cities that development is taking place and the trend towards developing mid-scale brands