- AHIC will be the collective voice of Africa's capital committed to sustainable hospitality investment
- AHIC will operate as an independent body within the EEA framework
- The EEA will provide the legal, governance and operational basis that ensures AHIC's international credibility and compliance with global standards.
Today at FHS Nairobi (www.FutureHospitality.com/Africa) Africa Hospitality Investors Council (AHIC) announced the creation and launch of its. AHIC will operate as an independent body within the EEA framework, governed by its own dedicated board but operated by the EEA.
AHIC aims to be the collective voice of Africa's capital committed to sustainable hospitality investment, ensuring that Africa's hospitality sector has a visible and credible presence in global investment dialogues. The AHIC will contribute to a coordinated investor perspective in policy and market dialogue, improving conditions for long-term investment, strengthening market confidence and supporting sustained economic value creation.
AHIC's mission in the rapidly growing African hospitality sector is to help build the foundation for sustainable, bankable and scalable growth across the continent – for Africa, by Africa – by unlocking a deep pipeline of projects as attractive investment opportunities.
Along with the EEA, which comprises 50,000 hotel properties with a global footprint at an estimated value of US$400 billion, AHIC will directly coordinate engagement between ministries of finance, planning, infrastructure, tourism, trade and investment and investors in Africa's hospitality sector.
The EEA provides the legal, governance and operational basis that ensures AHIC's international credibility and compliance with global standards while protecting its regional autonomy. Through the EEA Capital Markets Committee, AHIC will help price sustainability, transition risk and resilience into African hospitality portfolios.
Africa's hotel and accommodation sector is poised for substantial growth supported by powerful demographic trends and increasing demand for quality tourism and hospitality assets, yet faces a number of issues such as fragmented regulatory framework, uneven risk-return visibility, gaps in infrastructure provision, and limited transparency and disclosure standards.
AHIC's mandate is to strengthen Africa's position in the global capital allocation:
- Aligning investors' vision for trade, tourism and economic development with national and regional priorities, strengthening clarity on where and how capital can be deployed.
- Informing policy and regulatory frameworks through coordinated market insights, reflecting the realities of investing, developing and operating in African markets.
- Advancing transparency, comparability and governance standards, enabling more consistent assessment of risk and strengthening investor confidence
- Supporting cross-border alignment of investment conditions, engaging with the African Union and regional economic communities, including SADC, COMESA and ECOWAS, to reduce fragmentation and improve market coherence.
Hospitality assets are part of Africa's export and trade architecture and are considered economic infrastructure. They generate foreign exchange, enable mobility, energize local supply chains and create large-scale employment. As one of the largest employers in the region and an important source of revenue for national economies, the hospitality sector is key to Africa's successful development. AHIC is committed to ensuring that its investments benefit all sectors of the local hospitality value chain. This includes AHIC working with its members to build low-carbon buildings, increase motivation, benefits and training for all employees, reduce energy, water and resource consumption and manage waste efficiently. AHIC is dedicated to supporting the development of local talent and making a positive impact on job creation with quality job opportunities, helping to transform the lives of local communities.
AHIC will aim to deliver four strategic outcomes:
- Mobilizing African and global capital through a coordinated investor voice.
- Influence government policy to unlock investable projects.
- De-risking capital deployment in the hotel value chain in Africa.
- Strengthen transparency, disclosure and procurement systems.
The founding members of AHIC are:
- Mossadeq Bally, Azalai Hotel Group
- Kamal Bensouda, Atlas Hospitality Group
- Evan Cameron, Westmont Hotel Group
- Lara Dupre, Eighty Hotels
- Hamza Farooqui, Millat Investments
- Olivier Granet, Cassada Capital Management
- Sofia Lopez Benhamida, RISMA
- Paul Mack, Latitude Hotels
- Julien Renaud, Onomo Hotel
- Jameel Varji, CityBlue Hotels
- Graham Wood, V&A Waterfront
The AHIC will be a permanent, investor-led council – coordinating private capital with sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions and multilateral partners.
Delivered by APO Group on behalf of the Future Hospitality Summit Africa (FHS Africa).
For more information:
h/consultant:
London
David Sturken
david.sturken@h-advisors.global
+44 7990 595913
Paris
sarah duparc
sarah.duparc@h-advisors.global
+33 6 467 239 99