Horwath HTL hosted a panel on understanding how operators have successfully entered the African Market by partnering with local equity partners.

Philippe Doizelet, Managing Director of Horwath HTL France and a Partner in Horwath HTL Morocco hosted the panel and was joined by Christian Karaoglanian, Chief Development Officer (CDO) at Accor, Fouad Chraibi, Chairman of the Executive Board of H Partners, Rachid Alami Sounni, CEO of ALHIF Management and Jean Marc Grosfort, MEA CDO from Marriott International. 

The discussion was part of the Inaugural Hotel Investment Conference Africa (HICA) and the discussion focused on how operators have successfully entered Africa by partnering with equity and what the role of the operators is in structuring a transaction from a debt and equity perspective.

The conclusions reached were that even though from a tourism growth perspective, Africa is one of the fastest growing region in the world, the appetite for risk in hotel assets was still soft and the Global Financial Crisis had the effect of moving the operator and investor closer together as in many instances the ability to secure financing was dependent on having a strong brand already in place.

Many companies are seeing a joint venture structure as the right win/win arrangement that suits the needs of both partners locally.

Philippe Doizelet said "Beyond the Global Financial Crisis affecting the worlds economy, Africa is developing at a fast pace. Over the past decade, International arrivals to the continent have followed a solid growth of over 6% during the past decade. However, the maturity of African growth is very uneven and seizing opportunities requires well-adapted models. The most successful seems to be a joint venture structure with both sides taking a share of the risk in order to give banks comfort to provide financing. This arrangement can be considered the ‘African' model at the moment as both sides need the other to get developments financed and off the ground"



About Horwath HTL

Horwath HTL (Hotels Tourism and Leisure) is one of the pre-eminent consulting specialists in the hotel, tourism and leisure industries, providing unequalled experience and expertise for client projects around the world through a combination of detailed local knowledge and international understanding. Horwath HTL is currently the world's largest consulting organization specialized in the hospitality industry, with 50 offices in 39 countries.

Horwath HTL is a member of Crowe Horwath International, a professional association of accounting and management consulting firms founded in New York in 1915. Crowe Horwath International is currently ranked among the top ten international professional service groups with offices in close to 400 cities in 88 countries.

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