Africa’s hotel owners have spent years being told the money is coming. On November 20, Lagos Business School wants to put them in a room with the people holding it.

The Africa Hospitality Summit 2026 opens at 8:00 a.m. WAT at the school’s campus on KM 22 Lekki-Epe Expressway, Ajah, Lagos. Organised by the LBS Hospitality Initiative, it carries a blunt theme: “Africapitalism: Investing in Africa’s Hospitality Future.”

Last year was about imagination. This year is about cheques.

The organisers say so plainly. The 2025 edition set out to reimagine African hospitality. The 2026 edition moves from reimagining to funding and building that future, through capital, capability, talent and responsible business. Their framing leaves no room for hedging: Africa, the summit insists, “is not a distant opportunity or a speculative play.”

Capital, structure, ethics

The flyer boils the day down to three words. Capital. Structure. Ethics.

At the centre sits a problem every African hotelier knows. Investors are hunting for credible deals. Many hospitality businesses are not built to receive them.

The summit attacks that from both sides. Operators and founders will be pushed on what it takes to build companies that can attract, absorb and keep investment. Investors will get a clearer view of real opportunities and the conditions that drive performance, not just potential.

Ethics is not an afterthought here. The organisers argue that the way capital is deployed, and the quality of the businesses it backs, will decide whether the sector grows sustainably or simply grows fast.

Who is speaking

Fifteen speakers are on the flyer, and the lineup leans heavily on money and operations.

From academia and LBS: Prof. Uchenna Uzo, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at Pan Atlantic University. Prof. Chris Ogbechie, Professor of Strategic Management. Dr. Belinda Nwosu, Academic Director of the LBS Hospitality Initiative. Dr. Jumoke Awolumate of the LBS faculty. And Patrick Akinwutan, former Managing Director of Ecobank, now teaching at the school.

From the operators: Paul Umoh, MD/CEO of Bon Hotels. Chike Ogeah, Managing Director of Mac. Folly Hospitality. Kofi Abunu, MD/CEO of Food Concepts Plc, the group behind Chicken Republic. Apiyo Aloo, Managing Partner at Ankara and Lustar.

From finance: Mubo Olasoko, Deputy Managing Director of Meristem. Funsho Odewoye, Group Head of Fund Reporting at the Bank of Industry. Layi Matthew, Team Lead at Hero Plus.

The pan-African voices come from Mark Saint-Julien, founder of Immobilier d’Afrique and eazimmo in Dakar, and Charles Kie, Chairman of Ivorian investment firm Genesis Holding Company, who is listed on the summit website.

That mix is the point. A development bank, an investment house and a quick-service restaurant giant sharing a stage with hotel operators is exactly the conversation the sector rarely has in public.

Sponsors include Ile-Iyan by PODs Hospitality, Freddy Hirsch Nigeria, Esduda Bistro and 21st Century Evolution Systems.

Who should be in the room

The guest list targets decision-makers, not spectators. Organisers want investors and fund managers, family offices and private capital, hotel developers and asset owners, hospitality founders and executives, financial advisers, and government and policy leaders. Professionals in allied sectors supporting hospitality growth are invited too.

The promised payoff is practical: a clear picture of what makes a hospitality business investment-ready, sight of where credible deal pipelines are forming, and access to more than 500 senior executives, policymakers and innovators.

Where it started

The first edition held on November 15, 2025, on the same campus. It drew names like Mossadeck Bally of Groupe Azalaï Hotels, Paul Onwuanibe of Landmark Africa, Uzoamaka Oshogwe of Transcorp Hotels and Obi Asika of the National Council for Arts and Culture, with panels on designing the next era of hospitality and on tech and AI in the business.

That room talked about the future. This one is being asked to pay for it.

Registration is open on the Lagos Business School events page. Enquiries go to hospitalityinitiative@lbs.edu.ng or +234 707 733 4372.