Mangalis Management Group to inject R4.3bn in Africa hotel developments

Mangalis Management Group recently said it plans to invest R4.3bn towards hotel developments in Africa.

Mangalis Management Group recently said it plans to invest R4.3bn towards hotel developments in Africa.

Large offshore and South African-branded hotel groups are increasingly targeting Africa, given the continent’s undersupply of quality hotels and upbeat economic growth prospects.

The Mangalis group intends to construct more than 2,200 rooms and suites, spread between 15 properties in 13 African countries.

Mangalis Management Group is the brand development and hospitality management arm of Inaugure Hospitality Group.

Inaugure Hospitality was founded in 2011 by West African conglomerate Teyliom International — which entered the African hospitality market in 2009 when it opened the Radisson Blu Dakar.

Mangalis said this week that the group aims to be among the five-largest hotels groups active in Africa by 2017 through attaining more than 40 hotel management contracts.

The group’s economy brands include Seen and Seen+, while its "upper mid-scale" brands are Noom Hotels and Noom Résidences. Mangalis said 15 hotels carrying these brands were being constructed under its ownership "in several main cities of Africa".

Mangalis Management Group CEO Denis Sorin said the group "is now the only Africa-born hospitality group that offers a comprehensive selection of well-designed brands inspired by Africa, with a true international vision".

He said the group believed "that the African market has been poorly treated for far too long by regional and international groups, and we intend to bring true international standards and the highest quality of service to a market that is longing for it".

Mangalis joins the foray into African hotel investments amid increasing competition from large brands with existing track records. South African groups including Protea Hospitality Group and City Lodge Hotels are making progress in their African expansion drives.

Protea recently signed a deal that saw it moving into its 10th African country, Rwanda.

Protea CEO Arthur Gillis said in June that the company had hotels under construction in Zambia, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria and Uganda with a total value of more than $100m. It was also in the planning stages of expansion into at least three more countries in the next few years.

City Lodge recently opened its 104-room Town Lodge Gaborone, adding to its interests in two Kenyan hotels. City Lodge has also been eyeing other opportunities in Kenya and Ghana.

Meanwhile, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, whose brands include Regent, Radisson Blu and Park Inn, in July announced its 50th hotel deal in Africa — the Park Inn by Radisson in Kigali, Rwanda.