This week the news broke that BON Hotels has been acquired by international hospitality group, ONOMO Hotels, making us one of the biggest hospitality groups on the continent. We’re now the mid-scale pan-African hospitality group leader.

As we celebrate this momentous step, it has reminded me of a speech I gave at a hospitality conference in 2018. My key message was around the need for the Southern African hospitality sector to consolidate. Back then, all around me I was seeing international groups snatching up properties in competitive areas like Cape Town, Durban and the Kruger National Park - all the time wondering why African companies weren’t making these smart moves.

I think in large part it’s because African companies don’t have the advantages that global capital brings. So how do we overcome this? Consolidation is key and that’s exactly what we’ve done with the acquisition deal.