Côte d'Ivoire: New hospitality investment fund launched

Ivorian group Porteo S.A. and French group Centaurus have announced the creation of Dalia Hospitality, an investment fund that seeks to develop projects in the hotel and tourism sector in Africa and Europe.

Dalia Hospitality operates from Côte d’Ivoire, where it is based. Its ambition is to invest in structuring projects in the tourism economies of both continents.

In Côte d’Ivoire, five investment projects have been identified. Several other countries in the sub-region are also favoured, including Senegal, Benin and Togo. The average investment for each of these projects is about 50 million euros.

Dalia Hospitality aims at strengthening the Franco-Ivorian partnership by enhancing the tourism industry in both regions. In Europe, the tourism industry has been disrupted by the Covid-19 crisis and is now facing lack of staff and funding. On the African continent, the sector must respond to key challenges, such as training and structuring the offer to anticipate the strong growth in demand for business and leisure tourism to come.

Jean-Bernard Falco, president and founder of the Centaurus Group explains, “In Africa, tourism provides one job in seven. It is a vital economic and social sector for the country, with a strong development potential. Our ambition is to offer a portfolio of luxury properties with high potential to meet the needs of international business and leisure tourists.”

Hassan Dakhlallah, CEO of Porteo adds, “Dalia Hospitality aims to intervene in the entire value chain of the sector, both in training, operations management, construction and securing the land. The significance of this project lies in its ability to expand from Côte d’Ivoire across West Africa and the entire continent. We believe that the alliance of our complementary expertise and businesses enables us to offer new innovative products and services adapted to Africa’s needs.”

Pedro Novo joined the Dalia Hospitality fund as chief executive officer and partner as of 1 March 2023. “Dalia Hospitality is the combination of several skills in the fields of tourism, hotels and construction. It is a great bridge between the two continents and a strong response to the challenges of a very dynamic sector. I am very happy to join this ambitious project as CEO and partner and to dedicate myself to the development of this strategic pillar of the economies of both continents,” he declares.