There are currently 577 hotels and 104 444 rooms in Africa’s development pipeline, a 13.3% increase from 2024 and way ahead of the single digit pipeline growth reported globally by leading international chains.

This is according to the 2025 Hotel Development Pipeline Report by Lagos based W Hospitality Group which reviews data from 50 international and regional chains, showing that development activity has been growing impressively in North Africa which witnessed a 23% year-on-year increase compared to a 6% increase in sub-Saharan Africa.

Over the past five years, the hotel development pipeline has grown at an annualised rate of 4% in sub-Saharan Africa, 12% in North Africa, and 7% overall.

Egypt continues to lead the way in terms of development with 143 hotels and 33 926 rooms in its pipeline, almost four times the number of rooms in second-placed Morocco, which has 8 579 rooms in 58 hotels. The following eight countries, ranked by number of rooms comprise Nigeria (7 320), Ethiopia (5 648), Cape Verde (5 565), Kenya (4 344), Tunisia (4 336), South Africa (4 076), Tanzania (3 432), and Ghana (3 125) with international hotel chains having signed deals in 42 of Africa’s 54 countries.

Despite leading in total pipeline numbers, Egypt has fewer than 50% of rooms under construction, a significantly lower proportion than Morocco with +72%. Of the top 10 countries, Ethiopia has the highest ratio of rooms ‘on site’ followed by Morocco and Ghana.

Cape Verde, Nigeria, and Tanzania have some of the lowest percentages however, ‘under construction’ does not necessarily mean that there is activity and progress towards completion and opening – many of the sites in Nigeria and Ghana, for example, have been closed for several years.

A more granular analysis of the location of planned properties reveals an extraordinary boom in Cairo with 17 757 new rooms projected in over 70 hotels. The contrast with the second-placed location, Sharm El Sheikh, is dramatic where 4 231 rooms are planned in fewer than 10 properties.

The cities and resorts with the next largest pipelines by number of rooms are Lagos (3 709), Boa Vista (3 650), Addis Ababa (3 369), Casablanca (2 939), Accra (2 652), Abuja (2 570), Zanzibar (2 523) and Dakar (2 334).

The growth is being driven strongly by the major international hotel chains with Marriott International leading the way – 165 hotels with 29 639 rooms, followed by Hilton (93 hotels with 17 040 rooms), Accor (73 hotels with 15 013 rooms), IHG (40 hotels with 7 951 rooms), Radisson Hotel Group (32 hotels with 6 346 rooms), TUI Hotels & Resorts (11 hotels with 2 954 rooms), Barceló Hotels & Resorts (7 hotels with 2 193 rooms), The Ascott (15 hotels with 1 897 rooms), Kerten Hospitality (13 hotels with 1 881 rooms), and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (7 hotels with 1 706 rooms).

In the race for dominance, Hilton added slightly more rooms to its African pipeline in 2024 than Marriott International, achieving a higher percentage growth. Barceló Hotels & Resorts recorded the largest percentage growth, more than doubling its pipeline to 2 193 rooms, with three large resort signings in North Africa.

Below the headline numbers, there are three notable trends. First, the actualisation rate (actual openings vs. expected openings), which has nearly doubled from 21% in 2023 to 38% in 2024. While it’s substantially less than the 75% actualisation rate achieved in 2019, it shows a continuing recovery from the economic devastation of COVID-19. Of the total 104 444 rooms in the pipeline, over 50,000 rooms (nearly 50%) in 304 hotels are expected to open in 2025 and 2026.

Second, resort projects are increasing much faster than city or airport hotels, both in percentage terms and in absolute numbers, driven by the number of signings and by the larger average size of the developments, 210 keys versus 170. Also, almost half of the rooms that opened in 2024 were in resorts.

Third, there is a definite movement by the chains towards the franchise model, with 108 projects representing almost 19% of the total, compared to less than 10% in 2020. A major factor is the emergence of quality, international, white-label operators such as Aleph Hospitality and Valor Hospitality, and some indigenous operators in Nigeria, Kenya and elsewhere, that are increasing confidence that brand standards will be met.

The full report will be discussed at Future Hospitality Summit Africa (formerly AHIF) taking place in Cape Town between the 17^th and 19^th of June.