Operator News
Ivory Coast – Barrière to open Ivory Coast casino next month
By Phil - 24 April 2017
The French-born operator Groupe Barrière will open a casino in Abidjan in Ivory Coast on May 1, marking its first move on the country.
The Ivory Coast casino will be called the Golden Elephant and will be located within the walls of Sofitel Hotel Ivoire. Alain Le Gars, General Manager of the casino at a press conference on April 20.
In December 2015, the Barrière Group signed a concession agreement with the Société des Palaces de Cocody (SPDC) for the exploitation and management of the Casino Eléphant d’Or for 10 years. Over 1,600 m2, the casino will offer 84 slot machines and table games, including four matching poker tables connected to a common progressive jackpot whose initial amount is 5m CFA francs (€7,622). Electronic English roulette terminals will also be on site with players able to use prepaid rechargeable cards.
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. The live gaming tables will only be open to foreigners.
Barrière is also planning to open a second casino this summer in Cairo, following its success in El Gezirah, which it has been operating for several years. Dominique Desseigne, President of the Lucien Barrière group, , said Cairo was a market capable of generating GGR of about $ 200m.
