Africa Travels Investment, a tourism firm backed by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, has acquired Pollman's Tours and Safaris, Kenya's oldest tourism company.
The firm received the requisite approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Pollman's Tours and Safaris.
While announcing the deal, which is set to bolster the country's tourism sector, CAK assured the industry players that the deal would not hurt competition within the lucrative sector.
The Authority also noted that the agreement would not in any way cause job losses as the activities of the sector players were highly regulated.
“This approval has been granted based on the finding that the transaction is unlikely to negatively impact competition in the market for tour operators in Kenya, nor elicit negative public interest concerns,” CAK noted.
"After the transaction, there will be no change in the market share because the buyer and seller are not direct competitors. As a result, the structure and concentration of the market, for tour operators, will remain unaffected," the agency added.
The signing of the agreement for Africa Travels to acquire Pollman's was initiated by Alterra Capital Partners, a private equity fund owned by Dangote and American billionaire Dave Rubenstein.
Sources privy to the information indicated that Aliko's interest in Kenya's tourism sector came after the US billionaires, Rubenstein and Bill Conway, teamed up with Dangote to tap into Africa's fastest-growing markets.
Besides initiating the purchase of Pollman's Tours and Safaris, Alterra Capital Partners also recently moved to acquire Java House, Kenya's top coffee chain.
According to Forbes, Dangote's net worth is estimated to be 2.9 trillion ($23.2 billion), making him Africa's richest man. He has retained his streak as the continent's richest man for the 14th year in a row.
Meanwhile, the latest move reflects the growing demand by rich foreign businessmen to invest in Kenya's economy, which is among the fastest-growing globally.
A report by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Kenya's economy is projected to grow further in 2025. While the growth level varies, economists believe that Kenya's structural policies would help boost the country's economy.
These policies include the successive reduction in the base lending rate by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the easing of inflation and Kenya's digital transformation.
