(Ecofin Agency) - The Société Générale d’Hôtellerie (SGH), Malian subsidiary of the West African group Azalaï Hôtels, was granted a loan of €16.4 million from Proparco, subsidiary of the French Development Agency.

This loan will enable the Azalaï group to “renovate the most prestigious of its hotels, Le Salam (5 stars) and to build next to it a 3-star hotel of 100 rooms with a conference centre”. It will thus promote the development and improvement of the hotel offering in Bamako, at present inadequate in providing for the growing demand of the regional business clientele.

Founded in 1994 by entrepreneur Mossadeck Bally, Azalaï Hôtelsis today the first African hotel group in the UEMOA with 8 hotels of a total capacity of over 700 rooms, spread through 5 countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and Mali). The group will open by end 2015 a 4-star hotel of 200 rooms in Abidjan, and a 4-star hotel of 135 rooms in Nouakchott. By 2018, the group will also have hotels in Senegal, Guinea and Niger.