African Sun Limited [changed from Zimbabwe Sun Limited in 2008 in order to include the Pan African idea], is a Zimbabwe hospitality management company established in 1968.
It operates in the hospitality and leisure industry through a number of hotels, resorts, casinos and timeshare and throughout Zimbabwe, and has expanded its operations into Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia.
With a Pan African vision, African Sun moved beyond Southern Africa to West Africa to Nigeria and Ghana, where initial management agreement were reached with some private and public properties.
At a time, African Sun was running the famous Holiday Inn Accra Airport in Ghana, Obudu Mountain Resort and Amber Tinapa, now Lakeside Resort both properties owned by the Cross River State Government.
African Sun also managed Nike Lake Resort in Enugu also owned by the Enugu State Government. Apart from the aforementioned, the Zimbabwe hotel management company was also involved in some soft opening of Best Western Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Best Western Hotel, Benin, Edo State, Nigeria and finallyAfrican Sun Amber Residence in Ikeja as well as African Sun Airport Hotel both in Lagos that they have also lost.
African Sun last adventure in West Africa also ended disastrously when it’s Amber Hotel, near Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana closed down and now Ibis Hotel.
The question is, why is it that a celebrated hospitality management company that is well respected in Zimababwe and parts of Southern Africa, failed woefully in its adventurous in West Africa?
African Travel Times Magazine Publisher/Editor, Lucky Onoriode George who was Public Relations Consultant to African Sun Limited in West Africa noted that the Zimbabwe hospitality company misjudged the business environment of the region and as well as took some of the owners of the properties, especially in Nigeria for their words.
Shockingly, sometimes, they run some properties for as long as two years without their management fee paid, the case in mind were Cross River State’s Obudu and Amber Tinapa before they finally left.
Apart from the ownership uncooperative altitude, African Sun Limited lack the experience of a direct management contracts, rather than, the company is well known for running its sister company hotels and lease properties which without doubt they are successful at.
While this editorial is not to mock African Sun Limited, but to remind the current leadership of the company that their adventure in West Africa was nothing, but a total disgrace not just to Zimbabwe business image, but black Africans in general.
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