Dubai's Depa wins first deal in Angola worth Dh9.2bn

Interiors contractor Depa Ltd said on Monday it won a Dh9.2 million dirham ($2.51 million) contract in Angola, as it seeks to diversify its revenues and weather a downturn in its home market.

The contract to fit out guest rooms at a conference centre hotel in Luanda is the Dubai-based firm's first contract in sub-Saharan Africa, it said in a statement.

"We see Angola, a major oil producer, as a key growth market for us in the long term," Mohannad Sweid, Depa's chief executive, said in the statement.

"We are also looking closely at Libya."

An increasing number of United Arab Emirates contractors have announced plans to expand into north Africa in an effort to diversify their income sources.

In Egypt, Depa has, to date, fitted out ten luxury hotels including the Fairmont in Cairo and the Four Seasons in Sharm El Sheikh. Similarly in Morocco, the company worked on the Hyatt Regency and Golden Tulip Farah Hotel in Casablanca. Depa has also worked in Sudan, completing a turnkey project, including design, construction and interior works for the Al Salam Rotana hotel in Khartoum.