For the first time ever, Groupe Barrière will be operating a casino in Africa, once their new gaming venue in Ivory Coast opens next month. The new venue will be known as the Golden Elephant and is located in Abidjan with an opening date set for May 1st.
Groupe Barrière, a French gaming operator, will open their new gaming venue within the Sofitel Hotel Ivoire. General Manager of the new casino, Alain Le Gars, announced the news of the casino’s opening on April 20th during a press conference held at the facility. The property will include several aspects of gaming including 84 slot machines, table games and electronic English roulette.
Included in the table games will be four poker tables that will be connected to a progressive jackpot game. The initial amount of the jackpot will be €7,622. With the electronic roulette gaming, players will be able to use prepaid cards with the ability to recharge the cards once empty. The live gaming tables will be restricted to foreigners only. Also included on-site will be a restaurant and lounge bar for dining and drinks. The venue will also include a restaurant, a lounge bar and an events room with 150 seats. It will employ 85 members of staff. Barrière invested more CFAF 2,750bn (€ 4.2m) on the property
Plans for the casino came about after the Groupe Barrière signed a concession agreement in December 2015 with the Société des Palaces de Cocody. The new agreement included the exploitation and management of the new gaming venue for a ten year time frame.
Groupe Barrière will be opening a second casino in Cairo this summer, after seeing great success with their first venue, El Gezirah. The casino has been in operation for years and the Cairo market has the potential to bring the company even more success, with the market reportedly capable of bringing in gross gaming revenues of around $200m, according to President of the Lucien Barrière group.
Founded in 1912 by François André, the Group has grown over the years under the successive stewardships of Lucien Barrière, Diane Barrière-Desseigne and Dominique Desseigne to become France’s leading casino operator, a standard-setter in the luxury hotel sector and a global player in the leisure and entertainment sectors.
Barrière has designed unrivalled offers in the field of high-end leisure, founded on a commitment to operational excellence, service quality and French art de vivre. The Group today operates 33 Casinos Barrière (including one opening soon in Abidjan), 16 Hôtels Barrière (a majority are 5-star, including one under construction in Courchevel) and more than 120 restaurants and bars, including the famous Fouquet’s in Paris (with branches in Marrakesh, Cannes, Toulouse and La Baule). It also stages more than 3000 shows and events every year. With more than 6000 employees, the Group posted earnings of €1.21 bn for the financial year to 31st October 2015.
