In this podcast, Matthew Weihs hosts Jameel Verjee, CEO of City Blue Hotels, and Claire Van Enk, founder of Farm to Feed, exploring their innovative partnership in tackling food waste and promoting sustainability across Africa. Claire introduces Farm to Feed's mission as a B2B marketplace for surplus produce, addressing significant food loss issues…

In this episode of the AHIF podcast, Wayne Godwin, co-CEO of JLL in Africa, provides a comprehensive overview of the hospitality investment landscape in Africa. He discusses the significant surge in transaction activity, surpassing 2019 levels, and highlights the growing interest in leisure properties across the continent. Wayne explores the opport…

This episode of the AHIF podcast features Erwan Garnier, Development Director for Africa at Radisson Hotel Group. Erwan discusses Radisson's extensive presence across the continent, with over 100 hotels operational or under development in 32 African countries. He highlights their strategic focus on key markets like Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, a…

In this AHIF podcast episode, Matthew Weihs sits down with Wesam Okasha, Managing Director of TUI Blue, to delve into the brand's remarkable journey since its establishment in 2016. Okasha sheds light on TUI Blue's ambitious growth targets, surpassing expectations by opening 97 hotels in their initial three years. He discusses their strategic expan…

Discussion with Wytze van den Berk, VP of International Operations for BWH, highlighting BWH's growth post-acquisition of World Hotels, expansion plans in Africa, diverse brand portfolio, and opportunities and challenges in the African market.

In the latest episode of the AHIF podcast, Matthew Weihs and Trevor Ward delve into the intricacies of Africa's hospitality market. With a focus on the annual Hotel Chain Development in Africa pipeline report, they explore the challenges, trends, and opportunities shaping the continent's hotel industry. From the surge in resort developments to the …

In this episode of the AHIF podcast, Rahul Chaudhary, MD and CEO of CG Corp Global and CG Hospitality Holdings, shares insights on the remarkable growth and strategic ventures of CG Global over the past two years. From expanding into emerging markets like Nepal and Sri Lanka to venturing into the automobile industry, Rahul highlights the group's dy…

In this episode of the AHIF podcast, Michael Aldridge, the Founder and CEO of Kofisi, shares profound insights into the dynamic world of shared workspaces. The conversation unfolds the strategic growth of Kofisi, fueled by a unique blend of hospitality and co-working principles. Aldridge sheds light on the sustainability practices embedded within K…

Thomas Emanuel, Senior Director at STR, shares invaluable insights in this insightful podcast. The episode examines the recovery dynamics of the continent's diverse markets, presenting key statistics that underscore the robust resurgence of Africa's hotel industry. From dissecting occupancy and average rates trends to spotlighting exceptional perfo…

Suhail Bhatia, Director of Asset Management, shares the inception of CHIC, highlighting its commitment to bringing world-class accommodation to a region hungry for quality. Dive into the challenges and triumphs of simultaneously developing five state-of-the-art hotels, fueled by a vision for sustainable growth. Explore the strategic partnerships, i…

JS Anand, Founder & CEO of Labour Hotels, shares his vision for expanding in Africa, exploring opportunities in Rwanda, Ethiopia, and West Africa. He highlights the need for service improvement, training, and government support in the African hospitality landscape. Discussing challenges, JS addresses financial struggles, decision-making complexitie…

Dive into the world of hospitality investment in Africa with Matthew Weihs on the Africa Hospitality Investment Forum podcast. In this episode, he interviews Barney Haddad, the Managing Director of Aleph Hospitality. Discover how Aleph Hospitality operates as a third-party white label hotel operator, providing flexible management services for hotel…

Maya Ziadeh, the Chief Development Officer for premium midscale and economy brands in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey at Accor discussed Accor's strategy for the African hospitality investment market, their portfolio of brands, and their priorities for growth in Africa in our AHIF podcast series, Maya highlighted the potential for hotel investm…

TUI Blue is not just another hotel operator, but a socially responsible company that invests in people and communities. In a recent AHIF podcast episode, tHead of Global Development and Managing Director, TUI Hotels & Resorts discussed their journey, development opportunities, and pipeline in Africa. TUI Blue's social corporate responsibility is at…

Thomas discusses the data solutions provided by STR, which collects data from over 78,000 hotels worldwide on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The company provides benchmarking analysis to help clients understand their competitive position in the market and their direct competitors. They offer a range of key performance indicators, including occ…

Discover the Affordable Lifestyle in Africa's Hospitality Industry. Join us on the Africa Hospitality Investment Forum podcast as we dive into the latest episode featuring Paul Bridger, CEO of Rove Hotels, and Mark Dunford, CEO of Knight Frank. Learn about Rove Hotels, an affordable lifestyle brand bringing quality design and service without compro…

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 Afri…

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 owner…

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 hospita…

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 manage…

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 …

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 …

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…

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 opportunit…

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…

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 …

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 fo…

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 o…

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 o…

In this podcast, we speak to Matthew Tripolone the Vice President of Development for InterContinental Hotels Group MEA. We discussed the history of IHG in the region, the pipeline for the brand, the VOCO brand growth and the overall opportunities in the Middle East and African markets.

Premier podcast de la série du Forum de l'Investissement Hôtelier Africain 2020 avec Alexis Janoray, Chef de développement pour l'Afrique chez le Groupe AccorHotels; le commanditaire principal de cet évènement annuel. Une perspective sur les opportunités d'investissement dans l'immobilier hôtelier en Afrique de l'Ouest et de l'engagement du Groupe …

In this podcast, Karl de Lacy Director, International Hotel Services for Best Western Hotel Group talks about how the recent acquisition of WorldHotels brand has added value to their organization. In particular, we look at how this increase in brands enables them to work with more owners from luxury down to mid-scale products.…

Rick Taylor, the Founder of Business Tourism Company spoke to us about his organisation as one specialising in destination development, branding and tourism marketing strategies in emerging markets. We focus on some of the work they have done in Rwanda enabling them to embrace the potential of MICE as a way to diversify their tourism products and l…

In this podcast, we speak to Cyril Jacob, Managing Director at Ascentis, an engineering and project management organisation. We explore the similarities between the work he’s done in Asia and Africa; what the current challenges are for his organisation in the market and we look forward to his session on Developing Hotel Projects at the Africa Hotel…

This podcast with Nicolas looks at the changing role of media in Africa. We discuss the investment into the sector and the impact this is having on local media, discuss the impact this will have and explore the role of media portraying the continent. We also discussed the APO/AHIF partnership and what this will look to achieve – not least bringing …

In this podcast, we explore more about the CityBlue Hotels concepts and look at what plans it has as an African brand. Explore the challenges for the brand and the opportunities that come from being a regional player. Finally, we discuss Jameel’s coming session at the African Hotel Investment Forum and look at their needs as a regional brand and th…

In this podcast, we talk to Fabio Nava, Vice President of Capital Markets, JLL (Hotels and Hospitality) and Wayne Godwin, Head of Hotel Advisory in Sub-Saharan Africa from JLL who, as part of their survey into the current investment sentiments, are producing an independent report on the current state of debt financing and hotel lending across Afric…

In this Africa Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF) podcast, we speak to the Founder of Stuart & Partners, James Stuart about his work in the African hospitality market. Working closely with local independent hoteliers and helping them develop their own brand we explore why the African market is so important for him, the comparisons to this continent to h…

In this podcast I talk to Thomas Emanuel, Director of STR, looking at the African hotel performance data from Q1 2019. We also look at the pipeline data and discuss the markets that are looking strong across the continent.