While several countries on the continent have seen prospects falter, this sector is flourishing, with local and international hotel brands expanding. This might have something to do with the long-term nature of hotel investment, which means it can be smart to move in when economic activity appears to be stalling.There is much potential, as well as uncertainty, on the continent. In North Africa, countries such as Libya and Egypt have been hit by terrorism and political unrest, which delayed work on several projects. Middle Eastern funding for projects in North Africa has also been affected by the oil price crash.story_article_left1"It's a long-term story, there's no near-term upside. It's a business travel model, not a leisure travel model," said De Wet Schutte, hotel, travel and leisure analyst at Avior Capital Markets."The challenges are [that] the markets are very small, so any major development has the potential to bring in a disproportionate amount of supply. But the opportunity lies in building a brand presence on the continent in the business travel space."Schutte believes that City Lodge has the right model for the business traveller in Africa. It offered a clean room, access to international news, a decent breakfast and internet connectivity, which was all that the business traveller required, he said. "There's been a lot of disinvestment from Africa over the past couple of years, but the longer-term travel story is very appealing."It is hard to determine exactly what the pipeline looks like because so many companies claim to be developing hotels, and many have been delayed for months, if not years."If you walk the streets of Lagos, for instance, and ask a spaza shop owner what he wants to do one day, he'll say he wants to build a hotel," said Schutte."It's difficult to gauge the scale of the development across Africa. But the big groups are all there, including Accor, Marriott, Starwood, Rezidor and Hilton."Carlson Rezidor, with more than 1,400 hotels in 115 countries, is accelerating its growth strategy in Africa. It is entering its 28th country on the continent and taking the Park Inn by Radisson brand to Mauritius. The group has 32 new hotels opening across Africa, bringing the total in Africa to 66.Elie Younes, Carlson Rezidor's executive vice-president and chief development officer, said Africa was experiencing exponential growth in the hotel industry. "Rapid urbanisation and economic growth, combined with favourable demographics, have resulted in a shortage of quality internationally branded hotels."block_quotes_start I think it's too early to go into Zimbabwe, but for the rest there are further opportunities and growth in exciting markets block_quotes_endThe expansion doesn't stop there. Starwood is introducing its Four Points by Sheraton brand in Tanzania. This will add more than 230 rooms and expand the brand's presence in East Africa. Confortis is to build 10 hotels in Togo.Local hotel groups are also expanding into the rest of Africa. Tsogo Sun, South Africa's largest hotel group, operates in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia.Sun International is in six countries in Africa outside South Africa, and the City Lodge group is in Kenya and Botswana.Protea Hotels is expanding into Botswana; it already has hotels in Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and Malawi. "Our intention has always been to be in sub-Saharan Africa," said Danny Bryer, group director of sales, marketing and revenue at Protea, which has been rebranded to include "by Marriott" in its name.Bryer said countries like Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya had had economic growth for two consecutive years: "There seems to be some stability, and there's further investment from China and Europe.story_article_right2"Our strategic intent has always been focused on sub-Saharan Africa; the decision by Marriott to acquire Protea Hotels was a strategic move to strengthen and position the company with the combined portfolio as the No1 hotel operator in the Middle East and Africa region."Marriott is opening 10 new hotels - an additional 1,623 rooms - in Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda (Kigali), Zambia (Ndola) and Uganda (Kampala). "You can see the growth is across the continent," said Bryer."I think it's too early to go into Zimbabwe, but for the rest there are further opportunities and growth in exciting markets. Angola has huge potential. Ivory Coast is something we'd look at in the future."Protea's current portfolio is 70 hotels in South Africa and 27 elsewhere in Africa. Marriott International has 40 hotels in the Middle East, nine in North Africa and 101 (including Protea Hotels) in sub-Saharan Africa."The challenge of operating in Africa is you need to be there to learn what's right and wrong," said Bryer."There are many cultures and economic landscapes ... [So] find a strong local partner that can provide insight into the country's development, the tax and legal environment, and how to effectively navigate these areas."shevela@sundaytimes.co.za..