Billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi's MIDROC signs deal to build 10 Marriott hotels across Ethiopia

Mohammed Al-Amoudi's MIDROC Investment Group has signed a master development agreement with Dubai-based First Group Hospitality to build and operate 10 hotels across Ethiopia, marking the most ambitious single hospitality commitment in the country's history and First Group's first entry into the African continent.

The deal, announced at the Future Hospitality Summit Africa in Nairobi in early April, calls for a combined room count of 1,140 keys spread across key urban and gateway destinations including Addis Ababa, Hawassa, Bahir Dar, Jimma, Langano and Danbi. The portfolio will include a mix of independent properties and Marriott International-branded franchised hotels, with openings phased across a timeline from 2026 to 2031.

The agreement gives institutional shape to what MIDROC CEO Jemal Ahmed had been signalling at the fourth Invest in Ethiopia High-Level Business Forum in Addis Ababa, where he announced the group's plans to expand into multiple sectors alongside the hospitality rollout. Speaking before an audience of more than 800 global investors, policymakers and business leaders under the theme Ethiopia Is Ready for Business, Ahmed said MIDROC would open Marriott franchises in the capital, Jimma and Hawassa, and that the group's macroeconomic read supported major long-term bets. "The macroeconomic reform has done quite a lot," he said. "The investment policies, the regulators, the way their structures are totally different, more into business-friendly accessibility."

MIDROC currently employs approximately 80,000 people across clusters in agriculture, manufacturing, mining and construction. It already holds significant hospitality assets in Ethiopia, including the Westin Addis Ababa and the Sheraton Addis Ababa, a Luxury Collection Hotel, the latter considered one of the most prominent addresses in East Africa and the seat of diplomatic and business interactions across the Horn. Blue Nile Resort Hotel beside Lake Tana is also in the portfolio and is scheduled to reopen in 2027 as the Protea by Marriott Bahir Dar after a renovation.

Al-Amoudi is an Ethiopian-born Saudi businessman who built his fortune across construction, energy, mining, agriculture and hospitality. His net worth was estimated at approximately $9.3 billion by Bloomberg in 2026, placing him as Ethiopia's richest man and the second-wealthiest Saudi citizen in the world. He has been the largest individual foreign investor in Ethiopia since the mid-1990s, and MIDROC, which he founded in 1994, stands as the largest private investment group in the country by headcount and sectoral reach. The group also recently signed a partnership with Carrefour to bring the French retail chain into Ethiopia across 13 MIDROC outlets, marking the French retailer's first physical presence in the country.

Solomon Zewdu Damtie, deputy CEO of MIDROC Hospitality, said the partnership positions the group to respond to Ethiopia's hospitality demand at scale. "Ethiopia has robust, long-term demand for both leisure and business," he said. "This partnership positions us to respond at scale." The 10-hotel portfolio will directly support Ethiopia's broader ambition to grow tourism receipts and attract international business travel as the country's post-conflict recovery accelerates under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's economic reform agenda.

First Group Hospitality, which opened the 1,004-room Ciel Dubai Marina in November 2025, the world's tallest hotel, will manage the Ethiopian properties under its third-party management system. The company also holds franchise agreements with Radisson Hotel Group and IHG in addition to Marriott, and its Nairobi announcement represents its first move beyond its Dubai-anchored portfolio into a continental market.