Hotel Development in Africa Surges, Led by Egypt and Marriott

Africa’s hotel development is experiencing a record boom, as revealed by this year’s Hotel Development Pipeline Report, a key study on international hospitality projects across the continent. According to the report, 577 hotels and resorts, totaling 104,444 rooms, are currently in development—representing a 13.3% increase from 2024. This growth is far ahead of the global single-digit increases reported by leading international hotel chains.

The report, compiled by Lagos-based W Hospitality Group, draws from data provided by 50 international and regional hotel chains. It highlights a significant rise in development activity in North Africa, which saw a 23% increase year-on-year, compared to a 6% growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past five years, hotel development in sub-Saharan Africa has grown at an annualized rate of 4%, while North Africa has seen a 12% increase, with an overall continental growth rate of 7%.

Egypt remains the leader in hotel development, with 143 hotels and 33,926 rooms in the pipeline. This is nearly four times the number of rooms in Morocco, which follows in second place with 58 hotels and 8,579 rooms. Other countries in the top 10 by room count include Nigeria (7,320 rooms), Ethiopia (5,648), Cape Verde (5,565), Kenya (4,344), Tunisia (4,336), South Africa (4,076), Tanzania (3,432), and Ghana (3,125). Notably, international hotel chains have deals in 42 of Africa’s 54 countries.

While Egypt leads in the total number of rooms in the pipeline, fewer than half of those rooms are under construction, a lower proportion than Morocco, where over 72% of the rooms are under construction. Ethiopia has the highest percentage of rooms “on site” among the top 10 countries, followed by Morocco and Ghana. However, the term “under construction” doesn’t always imply active progress, as some sites in countries like Nigeria and Ghana have been stalled for years.

A closer look at the locations of these developments reveals an extraordinary surge in Cairo, where more than 17,700 new rooms are planned across over 70 hotels. In contrast, Sharm El Sheikh, the second-largest location for development, will see just over 4,200 rooms in fewer than 10 properties. Other cities with significant pipelines include Lagos (3,709 rooms), Boa Vista (3,650), Addis Ababa (3,369), Casablanca (2,939), Accra (2,652), Abuja (2,570), Zanzibar (2,523), and Dakar (2,334).

International hotel chains are driving much of this growth, with Marriott International at the forefront, leading with 165 hotels and 29,639 rooms in development. Other top players include Hilton (93 hotels, 17,040 rooms), Accor (73 hotels, 15,013 rooms), IHG (40 hotels, 7,951 rooms), Radisson Hotel Group (32 hotels, 6,346 rooms), and several others. Hilton surpassed Marriott in the number of rooms added to its pipeline last year, while Barceló Hotels & Resorts recorded the highest growth percentage, more than doubling its pipeline to 2,193 rooms with three large resort signings in North Africa.

Several notable trends are emerging from the report. First, the actualization rate (the proportion of hotels that open as planned) has nearly doubled from 21% in 2023 to 38% in 2024. While this is still below the 75% actualization rate of 2019, it marks a significant recovery from the impact of COVID-19. Over half of the rooms in the pipeline—more than 50,000 rooms across 304 hotels—are expected to open in 2025 and 2026.

Second, resort developments are growing much faster than city or airport hotels, both in absolute numbers and in percentage terms, driven by large signings and the generally larger size of resort projects (210 keys on average versus 170 for city hotels). Last year, nearly half of the new hotel openings were resorts.

Third, there’s a noticeable shift towards the franchise model, with 108 projects (about 19% of the total) adopting this approach, up from under 10% in 2020. This shift is largely due to the rise of high-quality, international white-label operators like Aleph Hospitality and Valor Hospitality, as well as local operators in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya, who are gaining confidence in meeting brand standards.

The full findings of the report will be presented at the FHS Africa conference (formerly AHIF) in Cape Town from June 17-19, where key industry leaders will gather to discuss the future of hospitality development across the continent.