French company Bouygues and Swiss hotel group Movenpick are combining with Ivorian firm Saprim to invest 55 million euros ($61.56 million) on a luxury hotel in Ivory Coast's commercial capital, Abidjan. Work on the hotel will reportedly begin in the next six months and is expected to be ready within 30 months, or by the end of 2018.
"The cost of the hotel is around 55 million euros of which most will be financed by Saprim and Bouygues," said Jean-Gabriel Peres, CEO of Movenpick hotels and resorts.
As Reuters reports, four years after the end of a civil war, "economic powerhouse Ivory Coast's coastal city of Abidjan is booming and its hotels are often fully-booked."
The hotel and tourism sector currently accounts for 4.8 percent of Ivorian GDP versus 0.6 percent in 2011.