African Sun

African Sun Limited, is a Zimbabwe based hospitality management company established in 1968. It operates in the hospitality and leisure industry through a number of hotels, resorts, casinos and timeshare operations throughout Zimbabwe and South Africa. It is listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange[1] and is a constituent of the Zimbabwe Industrial Index.

AfricanSun
TypePublic
IndustryHotels
Founded1968
HeadquartersHarare, Zimbabwe
Key people
E.T Shangwa, CEO. Alex Makamure, Chairman
RevenueUSD 35.2 million (2009)
Number of employees
2250
WebsiteAfricansunhotels.com

History

The group spun off from the Delta Corporation in 2003 with Shingi Munyeza as CEO.[2]

In 2011, African Sun retrieved from the management of The Grace hotel in Rosebank, Cape Town.[3] By 2012, it managed 1,000 rooms.[2] In 2009, Africa Sun welcomed the US President Barack Obama in its Holiday Inn-managed hotel at the Accra airport (in Ghana).[4]

In January 2015, the company sold its hotels in Ghana and Nigeria, and announced a year later its withdrawal from regional operations to focus on its domestic market.[5] In March 2015, Shingi Munyeza left and E.T Shangwa became the CEO.[6]

In February 2016, African Sun paid a 200,000-dollar water bill to the municipality of Victoria Falls to clear its outstanding 383,000-dollar debt.[7] In July 2016, African Sun bought 2,050 m2 of the Harare Gardens to extend the Crowne Plaza Momomotapa Hotel, a deal that was in the pipes since 2010.[8] In October 2017, Brainworks, African Sun's holding company, was introduced in the JSE, the first Zimbabwe-based company to be indexed on the South African stock exchange.[9] In July 2018, Nkala stepped down, and Alex Makamure was appointed new chairman of the board.[10]

In 2018, the group's revenue grew 32% to 68.5 million dollars,[11] and it spent 5.8 million dollars in refurbishments.[12] In 2019, the Zimbabwe fuel protests led to revenue drops for African Sun.[13]

In May 2019, African Sun terminated its deal with the South-African Legacy Hospitality regarding the management of 5 of its hotels.[11] The deal was running since October 2015, and implied that Legacy Hospitality would refurbish the properties it would manage.[14] The deal cancellation was justified by "disagreements", and African sun assured that Legacy Hospitality was actually not in charge of refurbishing the hotels under management.[15] Two months later, Legacy Hospitality appealed the cancellation in court.[16]

References
  1. "Zimbabwe Stock Exchange website". www.zimbabwe-stock-exchange.com. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
  2. "African Sun: Zim, Africa and back". Theindependent.co.zw. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  3. Firdose Moonda (2 September 2011). "Saying goodbye to Grace". Mg.co.za. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  4. "Accra welcomes Barack Obama for his first Ghana visit". Eturbonews.com. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  5. "African Sun abandons regional operations". Chronicle.co.zw. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  6. herald.co.zw, Shingi Munyeza leaves African Sun, Zimbabwe, April 1, 2015
  7. "African Sun settles municipality bill". Herald.co.zw. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  8. "City-African Sun deal gets nod". Herald.co.zw. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  9. Phillip de Wet (6 April 2018). "The JSE-listed owner of the Victoria Falls Hotel promised Zim it would list there too. Now it wants a postponement until elections are done". Businessinsider.co.za. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  10. "African Sun appoints new chairman". Herald.co.zw. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  11. Tawanda Musarurwa (6 May 2019). "African Sun ends Legacy flirtation". Herald.co.zw.
  12. "African Sun spends US$5,8m on facelifts". Theindependent.co.zw. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  13. Memory Mataranyika (8 October 2019). "Zimbabwe hoteliers count the cost of chaos". Fin24.com. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  14. Tawanda Karombo (22 September 2015). "Legacy Hotels to help African Sun". Iol.co.za. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  15. "African Sun opens up on Legacy deal". Herald.co.zw. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  16. Alois Vinga (8 July 2019). "Legacy challenges African Sun contract cancellation". Newzimbabwe.com. Retrieved 31 October 2019.


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