AccorHotels CEO for Middle East and Africa Mark Willis announced plans for opening 60 new hotels in 14 countries in Africa in the next four years, while eyeing to open more than half of them in Egypt during the upcoming two years, Bloomberg reports.

“Egypt is resurrecting after ten years of a tough situation,” Willis added in an interview with Bloomberg in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Egypt has overtaken Kenya’s coastal region as the preferred destination for European tourists and investors, he noted, and revenue per available Accor room there has risen 20% year-on-year, he highlighted.

“Key markets in Accor’s growth plan include Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa, where it will open 10, seven and three hotels respectively by 2020. Accor has 143 hotels in Africa, 63 of them south of the Sahara, and will promote its Movenpick luxury brand,” Willis added.

The hotel group will finance the growth with more than USD 1 bn from the Kasada Fund set up by Katara Hospitality and Accor last year for sub-Saharan Africa, the CEO noted. Accor invested USD 150 mn, and the Qatar Investment Authority unit put in USD 350 mn, while the remaining USD 500 mn will be raised through bank loans, according to Willis.