The Qatari hospitality giant, Katara Hospitality, is planning to invest €500 million in the African hospitality market, to build a chain of hotels and convention centers across the African continent.
Headquartered in Qatar, the Katara Hospitality is a global hotel owner, developer and operator and one of the leading hospitality organizations in the world. Katara Hospitality owns an iconic collection of hotels spread across 12 countries and four continents. The company’s portfolio has grown to include 40 hotels and it’s aiming to have 60 hotels in its portfolio by 2026.
Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al-Thani, chairman of the Board of Directors of Katara Hospitality, told journalists that Katara Hospitality is currently doing due diligence in three African countries namely Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal for a potential investment in the hospitality sector.
Katara Hospitality is also closely watching Ethiopia’s booming hotel and tourism industry, hoping that the investment environment will become more attractive for foreign investors. Sheikh Nawaf bin Jassim bin Jabor Al-Thani noted that Ethiopia has very promising business opportunities and he believes that there will be new developments after the Africa Hotel Investment Forum that was recently held in Addis Ababa between 23 – 25 September, 2019.
Investments in Africa’s Hospitality Sector
Katara Hospitality, the state-owned hospitality giant is planning to build hotels across Sub-Saharan African countries, having the capacity of 10,000 to 12,000 rooms. This huge project will create job opportunities for more than 35,000 people in the continent. Sheikh Nawaf also hinted that the fund earmarked for its African investment might increase to one billion Euros depending on the market opportunities.
Asked why his company is interested to invest in Africa, Sheikh Nawaf had a simple reply: why not Africa’.
“Africa is the motherland of the world. I believe that the Sub-Saharan African countries will flourish and they will have the strongest economy in the coming ten years,” he said.
Katara Hospitality is upgrading its existing properties by conducting renovation work and building new hotel units including the flagship Katara Hospitality project in preparation for the upcoming World Cup. The Katara Twin Towers project is a landmark project by Katara Hospitality with an architectural design inspired by the seal of Qatar and it will be ready for service before the World Cup.
The arched towers will host a luxurious five-star hotel and a lavish six-star hotel to meet the needs of those seeking sophisticated luxury accommodation and branded apartments to become home to permanent residents. The property will have a total 36 floors and currently the construction has progressed to the 14th floor and will be completed in 2021 and will have a total of 400 rooms.
Katara Hospitality has gained global recognition for its contributions to the Qatari and international hospitality landscape, through numerous prestigious accolades from the industry.
