Moyo Ogunseinde: Why I am Optimistic About Nigeria’s Tourism Development

More than ever before, the way businesses operate is changing. There is greater diversity, more competition, stricter regulations, greater use of tech, and there’s a decline in consumption due to the fall in consumer purchasing power.

As the world faces a post-COVID environment, many consumers will prioritise expenditure on essential goods, consumers will opt for better quality products or known and trusted brands. There will also be more pre-planning and less spontaneous purchasing, says a report by Philip Bacon and Irene Santos, senior executives at Horwath HTL, the world’s largest hospitality consulting brand.

To thrive in the new world of the hospitality business that the COVID-19 pandemic has badly hit, industry players, in the words of Moyo Ogunseinde, need to understand their business environment and the stakeholders align them around their organisation’s action plan.

Moyo Ogunseinde is the Executive Director of Uraga Real Estate Limited, a Honeywell Group Company, which is creating and reinventing some of the most recognizable buildings in Nigeria. She also serves on the Board of Anchorage Leisures Limited, a hospitality company, and Wavecrest College of Hospitality.

For the travel and tourism industry that contributed 5.1 percent to Nigeria’s GDP in 2019, Ogunseinde strongly believes there is a huge potential for the industry based on the sheer size of the country’s growing population and the diversity of the tourism assets in the country.

“We have so much potential, but we only need to harness the potential of our local tourism and begin exploring the possibility of developing our own tourism infrastructure. We can develop world-class attractions by leveraging the already buoyant Nollywood industry or building on our natural geographical attractions (like Yankari Game Reserve or Olumo Rock),” she says in a recent interview.

She believes the clog in the wheel of many companies in Nigeria hindering this progress include a lack of infrastructure, insecurity, and unavailability of patient capital.

“Thankfully, BOI is helping to address the third challenge by providing long term financing which is essential for an industry that requires substantial amounts of capital for development and to maintain world-class standards,” she says.

A chartered architect and real estate development executive with over 18 years of experience and accomplishment in managing and developing substantial real estate investment portfolios, Ogunseinde’s expertise spans design, consultation, construction, development, and project management of a wide range of various large-scale living accommodation blocks, associated leisure facilities in industries, including hospitality, commercial and residential sectors in Nigeria and West Africa.

The hospitality expert, who is a trustee of the Lagos State Sports Trust Fund and the board chair of the Lagos State Gymnastics Association, holds a master’s degree in Architecture from University College of London (UCL) and an Executive MBA from NYU/LSE/HCE, a Trium Global Executive MBA jointly awarded by the New York University (NYU), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and HEC School of Management, Paris.

Despite the alteration by the COVID-19 pandemic, she believes the projections by PwC of a 12 percent compounded annual increase up to 2023 for the hospitality industry is still achievable despite the global pandemic as we have seen a shift to domestic tourism.

“The likelihood of achieving these projections is however linked to how well the economy performs. The ambitious vaccine rollout will be a key factor in ensuring that this projected growth is sustained and that the country is perceived as a safe destination for business and leisure,“ she says.

“At Radisson Blu Anchorage, we had already seen the projected trend which was a key driver of the recent renovation of our hotel; this allowed us to continue to offer a best-in-class client experience while innovating the way we do business, including hybrid meetings, express check-in and check-out enhanced connectivity.”

Anchorage, Ogunseinde says, is doing all of these without leaving the locals behind.

“As a Nigerian company, local content is in our DNA; that is why we are deliberate in ensuring we support Nigerians and Nigerian businesses throughout our business operations.”

She said right from inception, in the hotel’s architecture, local artists and artisans have been infused into the fabric of the hotel. She added that this could be seen through the art in the hotel’s lobby, culinary offerings, and sourcing across the value chain, “our various food outlets showcase the best of Nigerian food and produce.”

Ogunseinde firmly believes that if Nigeria builds, develops, and maintains its tourism infrastructure, the hospitality industry will thrive better. The development will be a win-win for the country and its young population, who are victims of the rising unemployment that stands at 33.3 percent as of March 2021, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics—indicating that 23.2 million people are unemployed.

“The market already exists given the country’s growing middle-class and youthful population. If we can build, develop, and maintain the infrastructure, people will come. Additionally, given Nigeria remains the economic engine of West Africa, the hospitality industry will always thrive on supporting business travel,” she says.