Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc has announced plans to build a new hotel in Lagos in partnership with the Hilton Worldwide.
Transcorp said the move was aimed at boosting Nigeria's hospitality industry.
It also said the proposed Transcorp Hilton Lagos would be jointly owned by Transcorp's hospitality division, Transnational Hotels and Tourism Services Limited and Heirs Holdings.
It added that the hotel, which would be a full service, 350-room hotel, would be built in Ikoyi.
Speaking at the signing of the management contract between both firms in Lagos, on Wednesday, the Chairman, Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony Elumelu, said, "This agreement marks another milestone in our long-standing partnership with Hilton Worldwide. The Ikoyi development along with the extensive refurbishment and upgrade of our existing hotels in Calabar and Abuja demonstrates the Heirs Holdings' commitment to driving growth in real estate and hospitality, a strategic sector for Nigeria's economic development."
This, he said, was because apart from creating an additional world-class venue for investors and tourists, adding that it would create the "much-needed jobs for our citizens, enabling their social and economic development."
Elumelu also said such partnerships and investment would encourage foreign investors to do more business in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
He said, "By investing and demonstrating confidence in the African economy, others will follow suit."
The Managing Director, THTSL, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, said the project was expected to be completed in two to three years.
He explained that the decision to build the hotel in Lagos was because Lagos was the most important commercial city in Nigeria.
On the country's hospitality industry, Ozigbo said there was a great potential for growth.
"A lot of times, people underestimate the importance of the hospitality sector. But guess what, it actually defines who we are. If you want to describe a Nigerian, you talk about how hospitable he is; how well he has received you and the symbolism of that is the hotel business."
He added that the sector affects every other sector "whether you are in the agriculture sector, because all the food that we sell comes from the agriculture. If you are looking at infrastructure sophistication, hotel business and hospitals are the most complex in terms of design and construction."
He explained that people could gain a lot from a plot of land if they could build a hotel on it.
He stressed that there was still so much gap for growth in the Nigerian hospitality industry.
He said, "Not a lot has happened; because the tourism business has not really kicked in. Eighty per cent or 90 per cent of travellers to Nigeria are actually here on business. Hardly do you have people coming to Nigeria from China for holiday."
He, however, said the industry was growing as some companies such as THTSL were ready to spur growth in th e industry.
Ozigbo, who said the cost of the project could increase eventually, told journalists that it would gulp about $100m.
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