Established in Morocco for only four years, the Onomo group manages three hotels in Rabat and Casablanca and intends to strengthen its presence by opening three new establishments, including two in the economic capital and one in the strait city. With these openings, Morocco will become the country which concentrates the majority of African investments of this group which insists on its continental vocation.
Apart from investors specializing in hotels, almost no one in Morocco knows about the Onomo group, which nevertheless continues to expand its presence in West, South and North Africa.
Created around 10 years ago, it was not until it moved its head office in 2015 from Dakar to Casa Finance City that Onomo took the plunge and finally launched into the hotel business in Morocco.
Creation of 6 hotels in just 4 years
Not very keen on communication, it was only on the occasion of the recent opening of its 3th hotel in the economic capital that we now know a little more about its Moroccan ambitions.
In addition to the “Onomo Médina” and “Onomo Terminus” in Rabat (the former BandB and Terminus), both 3 stars, since March 1, the 4-star establishment “Onomo Casa City Center”, located in the Maarif district, has been added, with a total capacity of 402 rooms (116+85+201).
During a press conference held this Friday, March 22, management announced the opening by July 1 of three new 3-star hotels under construction, which will increase the supply to 750 rooms and create around 240 direct and 600 indirect jobs.
These are the “Onomo Casa Sidi Maarouf” with 120 rooms which will be inaugurated at the beginning of next April, the “Onomo Casa Airport” with 135 rooms which will open on May 1st and finally the “Onomo Tanger Med” with 90 rooms which is scheduled to open on 1stnext July.
Six years after its establishment in West Africa (Conakry, Abidjan, Dakar, Bamako, Lomé, Libreville, Conakry), South Africa (Cape Town, Durban, Sandton) and East Africa (Kigali), Morocco therefore becomes the first investment destination of this French group.
A third of the group’s portfolio is in Morocco
Questioned by Médias24 about the investments made or to come in Morocco, its president preferred to evade the question by simply revealing that Onomo weighed a total of 400 million euros, mainly held by the French group Batipart
Aware of its lack of notoriety internationally and in Morocco, he declared that his strategy of acceleration in terms of development of establishments and geographical diversification would make it possible to compensate for this gap on the African continent « which is the group’s only target. »
Present in 9 African countries with a current portfolio of 14 hotels (1,900 rooms), its hotel capacity will increase to 20 establishments by the end of the current year.
Indeed, apart from the 3 new units planned in Morocco, three other establishments will also soon be opened in Douala (Cameroon), Maputo (Mozambique) and Dar Essalam (Tanzania) which will add 917 keys to its hotel portfolio, for a total of around 2,800 rooms.
According to top management, the objective is to soon become “the 1erapan-African hotel platform in the 3-star segment” aimed mainly at business customers and holiday tourism.
Tenant of the 6 Moroccan hotels that he only manages, Onomo intends to add to his hat of operator that of developer based on a “property and funds” ownership model to transform himself into a main player in the mid-range hotel sector.
If Onomo wants to be pan-African, its three new Moroccan hotels out of 6 African ones show that Morocco has become an essential investment point on the continent and in particular in North Africa, knowing that no similar investment is planned in Tunisia and Algeria.
source: medias24.com
