| AfricanSun | |
| Type: | Public |
| Foundation: | 1968 |
| Location: | Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Key People: | E.T Shangwa, CEO. Alex Makamure, Chairman |
| Homepage: | Africansunhotels.com |
| Industry: | Hotels |
| Num Employees: | 2250 |
| Revenue: | USD 35.2 million (2009) |
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.
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]