By Mario Marroquin
South African private equity firm Kasada penned its fourth
acquisition in Senegal this week. The hospitality firm, which is backed by the
Qatar Investment Authority and French hospitality group Accor, purchased the
166-key Lamantin Beach Resort & Spa in Saly – located 50 miles east of
Dakar – less than seven months after it made its third hospitality deal in Dakar.
“The Senegalese economy has shown resilience throughout the
pandemic, and we are excited to add this asset to our portfolio,” Olivier
Granet and David Damiba, managing partners at Kasada, said in a statement. “We
believe the combination of the hotel’s popularity and our savoir-faire will
create significant value to our guests and the local community.”
Lamantin Beach Resort is a beachfront hospitality asset
located on the Senegalese Petite-Côte, and consists of two swimming pools, a
spa and wellness center, and a conference center. Kasada said renovations to
the hotel are imminent and that it will seek to enhance experience and ensure
leading environmental and social, governance (ESG) practices at the property.
While Kasada has been active in Senegal since 2020, the
hospitality firm has remained active throughout Sub-Saharan Africa in 2022. The
firm owns over 2,500 rooms across seven countries in the continent and recently
announced the acquisition of the Former Crowne Plaza in Nairobi, Kenya, and the
acquisition of the Masara Umubano Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. The real estate
investment firm also entered the Cape Town, South Africa, hospitality sector
this year when it acquired the Cape Grace Hotel in March.
Kasada closed its
US$500 million maiden fund, Kasada Hospitality Fund L.P. in 2019. And while the
firm represents a small percentage of QIA’s exposure to hospitality in Africa,
management at the sovereign wealth fund has made it clear it wants additional
exposure to the sector in the continent.
In a recent meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly,
Faisal bin Thani Al-Thani, QIA’s chief of Asia-Pacific and Africa Investments, said
the sovereign wealth fund intends to invest in the tourism and hotel sectors in
Egypt. The Egyptian State Information Service reported Egypt is one of the
three most important destinations for Qatari investments in the region.
QIA is also the founder of Katara Hospitality which acquired
the Fairmont Tazi Palace in Tangier, Morocco in September. The investment
authority is the second-largest shareholder in Accor, which owns and manages 305
hotels – 70,638 rooms – across 30
countries in the Middle East and Africa, and is the sixth-largest hospitality
firm in the world.
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