Movenpick, a Swiss-based hotel management company, partly owned by the Kingdom Group, has recently announced an addition to its West African portfolio. The proposed 220-room hotel will be developed in Abidjan by French company Bouygues and Ivorian firm Saprim at an estimated $61 million (55 million euros). Work is expected to begin by March 2017 with completion at the end of 2018 or beginning 2019. The proposed hotel will be located in Plateau, the city’s administrative and business district. Movenpick currently operates the 260-room Movenpick Ambassador Hotel Accra.

Abidjan has seen renewed economic growth, following the end of its civil war. The country’s economy has grown at an annual average of approximately 9 per cent since 2012. The African Development Bank moved back to Abidjan in 2014, 11 years after it was forced to relocate to Tunis, after the civil war broke out.