America's Best Expanding to Africa
MARCH 24, 2008. The name "America's Best" will soon be appearing on hotels in Africa, as Atlanta-based America's Best Franchising Incorporated has signed its first master licensee for portions of the world's second largest and second most populous continent.
MIDC, Ltd. of Nigeria has become the licensee for America's Best Inns & Suites in Togo, Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone, St. Thomas Principe, Abidjan, Tanzania by Lake Victoria, and Zanzibar.
"There is a high demand for fine hotel rooms in Africa, especially in my native Nigeria as tourism grows and as industries such as oil, gas, and telecommunications expand dramatically," said Emmanuel Obire, a construction engineer who serves as CEO of MIDC.
"American products have a solid reputation for value and quality, so the America's Best brand offers a unique way to build an identity, to offer something special to the marketplace, and to redefine the face of the African hospitality industry."
The two initial projects for MIDC and Obire are in Nigeria - one is a 25-room conversion on top of an office building adjacent to a golf course in the business district of Lagos, while the other is the re-branding of a 220-room hotel and 3,000 square foot conference center located near a wildlife refuge. This project will also involve the construction of a water park.
Obire's team includes several companies with extensive international experience, including Larry Carver Associates and Design Directions, both of Atlanta, plus architect Guillermo Santaello of Buenos Aires, who is America's Best master licensee for Argentina.
"Africa has a very under-developed hotel industry, despite being the world's second largest and second most populous continent after Asia," said Doug Collins, chairman and CEO of America's Best Franchising Incorporated, which operates both the America's Best and Country Hearth brands.
"This license agreement is a unique opportunity for America's Best to provide a brand name and a room quality that's considered superior in this part of the world."
America's Best Franchising currently operates one property in Canada and two properties in Argentina, plus has several properties under development in India, under the America's Best brand name.
The company's U.S. operations include 98 properties under the America's Best brand and 89 properties under the Country Hearth brand.
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