Region overview: 290 hotels to launch across Africa

According to the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database, development is continuing apace across the continent, fuelled by high levels of activity in North Africa.

Our researchers report that 290 hotel schemes with a total of 63,561 rooms will open throughout Africa in the coming years. We take a closer look at these upcoming launches – and consider which ones are worth adding to your watchlist.

Africa’s hotel openings by year

Currently, 92 hotel projects with 17,132 rooms are slated to complete in the remainder of this year; 21 of these properties are already in the pre-opening phase. 2022 will be similarly busy, with 88 planned launches bringing 19,434 keys into play.

Another 40 hotels with 10,113 rooms have been lined up for 2023, while 70 more projects and 16,902 keys are on the books for 2024 and beyond.

The split between four- and five-star hotels, incidentally, is pretty much even – 146 for the former and 144 for the latter.

The continent’s top growth regions

Egypt tops the country-by-country charts with 51 ongoing projects and 15,725 keys. No fewer than 12 of these hotels will launch in Cairo alone, adding 2,820 new hotel rooms to the city’s highly competitive hospitality scene.

Next up, Morocco’s market will grow by 38 properties and 8,552 keys; nearly a third of these hotels will open in Marrakech. And Nigeria takes third place, with 28 new schemes and 6,613 rooms.

Ethiopia comes fourth, meanwhile, with 20 upcoming openings (including 12 in the capital Addis Ababa), and South Africa places fifth with 17 forthcoming projects.

Africa’s three fastest growing hotel brands

Hilton Hotels & Resorts is Africa’s fastest growing hotel brand, the data shows, courtesy of the fact that it has 19 properties and 4,748 rooms in the works.

But interestingly, Radisson Hotel Group’s recent public statements about wanting to expand rapidly in Africa seem to be borne out in the data, given the fact that it has bagged both the second and third spots in our rankings. Radisson Blu Hotels & Resorts has 19 new hotels and 4,186 keys in its pipeline, while Radisson Hotels & Resorts is aiming to grow its footprint by 14 properties and 1,806 rooms.

Must-follow hotel openings in Africa

In Egypt, Hilton Cairo Nile Maadi is expected to open in late 2021 as part of a mixed-use project comprising two towers. The first will offer residential units, while the second will house the 257-key hotel. Hilton’s latest outpost will feature a luxurious reception hall, restaurants, cafés, meeting rooms, a health club and business facilities.

Over in Morocco, The Ritz-Carlton Marrakech will also debut towards the end of the year, in a scenic area close to Jenan Amar Polo Fields and the Lalla Takerkoust nature reserve. Designed by Atelier d’Architecture Abdelhakim Guilmi and GAJ Architects, this 80-room property will offer all the luxurious services and amenities that guests have become accustomed to from this iconic brand.

A bit further south, in Ghana, Pullman Accra Airport City is currently under construction. The 365-key hotel, slated to open in Q3 2022, will boast spacious conference and banqueting facilities, two restaurants offering a range of international cuisines, pool bars, a pair of swimming pools and lush landscaped areas.

Many TOPHOTELNEWS articles draw on exclusive information from the TOPHOTELPROJECTS construction database. This subscription-based product includes details of thousands of hotel projects around the world, along with the key decision-makers behind them. Please note, our data may differ from records held by other organisations. Generally, the database focuses on four- and five-star schemes of significant scale; tracks projects in either the vision, pre-planning, planning, under-construction, pre-opening or newly opened phase; and covers newbuilds, extensions, refurbishments and conversions.

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