A ceremony that materialises a project launched in 2019
The future Kempinski Shekinah Palace delivers on an ambition first announced in 2019 by ALS Group (All Luxury Suites Group), the project’s parent company led by Rodolphe Simo Kam, who is also managing director of Sofitoul. The groundbreaking ceremony, scheduled for 25 September 2026, will take place in the Bonanjo administrative and business district, close to Douala’s port area.
The Hospitality Tribune’s sister publication first reported on the financial outline of this five-star hotel back in 2025, when the project was costed at XAF 172 billion. The overall budget has since risen to XAF 220 billion, or approximately €335.4 million including tax and customs incentives, with an investor-funded cost of XAF 207.62 billion. Commercial opening is expected around September 2029, following 36 months of construction — 31 of them devoted to the main structural works and five to fit-out.
Analysis – several external public works — drainage, roads, lighting, and the link to the international airport — remain the responsibility of Cameroonian authorities, with no timeline or formal budget commitment established at this stage. According to the Investir au Cameroun website, these uncertainties are among the main blind spots in the developer’s submitted plan.
A financing structure led by debt
The financing structure relies on debt for close to half of the total. ALS Group is arranging a senior tranche of €140.7 million (XAF 92.3 billion), equivalent to 44.5% of the overall cost, with a thirteen-year maturity. The balance combines XAF 60.29 billion in investor contributions, XAF 43.03 billion in equity and land contributed by the developer, and XAF 12 billion expected from apartment sales — giving an overall structure of close to 55% equity and 45% bank debt.
The Central African States Development Bank (BDEAC) approved a €45.7 million (XAF 30 billion) facility for ALS Group on 23 December 2024, covering 32.5% of the planned senior debt. Afreximbank and BGFI Bank are also named among the financial partners, though the breakdown of the remaining XAF 62.30 billion, and actual disbursements to date, have not been specified.
Analysis – full documentation of the bank financing package is therefore not yet available in detail as of the groundbreaking ceremony.
On the uses-of-capital side, capital expenditure stands at XAF 161.38 billion, plus XAF 22.96 billion for land and XAF 23.29 billion in financing costs. The construction contract was signed in November 2025 with Chinese group China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC); the contract value has not been disclosed.
A hotel market that is getting more crowded in Douala
The future Kempinski will not be entering an empty market. Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital, is already home to the Krystal Palace in Akwa, the K Hotel in Bonanjo, the Star Land Hotel and Accor’s Ibis Douala.
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This landscape will soon be joined by the Radisson Blu Douala, developed by Financia Properties and also financed by BDEAC, which will convert the Caisse nationale de prévoyance sociale (CNPS) building on Avenue Charles-de-Gaulle into a 180-key property. Facing this competition, ALS Group is betting on an integrated complex rather than a standalone hotel, combining accommodation, offices, retail and event space on a single site.
Our Analysis – the near-simultaneous arrival of two large-capacity five-star properties — the Kempinski Shekinah Palace and the Radisson Blu Douala — raises questions about the local market’s ability to absorb an expanded upscale supply. The Hospitality Tribune’s sister title already noted, in its first coverage of the project in 2025, a gap between Douala’s stated economic attractiveness and hotel occupancy rates seen as lagging. The developer has not published RevPAR or target occupancy projections to support the complex’s business plan.
A mixed-use programme built around the Kempinski brand
Spread over close to two hectares, the complex will comprise 214 rooms and suites plus 35 serviced apartments, alongside approximately 17,000 sqm of office space. The programme also includes a 2,000-seat multipurpose hall, 2,000 sqm of retail space, a 500 sqm art gallery, five restaurants, five bars, two swimming pools, a 2,000 sqm fitness centre and 600 parking spaces.
Kempinski Hotels was selected as operator back in August 2020. The brand, founded in 1897, reported a portfolio of 73 properties across 33 countries as of September 2026, with around twenty more in the pipeline. Its Congolese property in Brazzaville, opened in December 2025 with 197 keys, offers a regional precedent the developer intends to draw on, leveraging the group’s international distribution network and its expertise in the palace hotel segment.
Around twenty international firms are involved in the project, including WhiteBridge Hospitality, Rider Levett Bucknall, Simmons & Simmons, Arcadis and CallisonRTKL-Ansara. Feasibility studies were completed as early as 2019, the final design in April 2022, the building permit obtained in December 2022, and detailed design finalised in September 2023.
More to follow.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
ALS Group breaks ground on the Kempinski Shekinah Palace in Douala, Cameroon
Groundbreaking scheduled for 25 September 2026 in the Bonanjo business district
Total project value: XAF 220 billion (approx. €335.4 million), opening targeted for 2029
Programme: 214 rooms and suites, 35 serviced apartments, 17,000 sqm of office space
Financing: XAF 92.3 billion senior debt tranche, including a XAF 30 billion BDEAC facility
Kempinski Hotels to operate the property, following its December 2025 Brazzaville debut
