Well Done Souadou Niang!!!
By Sudi Am mba
24/08/2022
The majority of people in the world associate Africans unfortunately with mediocrity and poor quality of service in the hospitality and hotel industry. You will not be surprised whenever you see a 5 Star luxury hotel with a great quality service, many will believe the owner is non-African or a foreigner.
Today my mission is to tell you a story of an exceptional woman who decided to change the narrative. From working as a housekeeper at the Ritz-Carton Hotel in the United States to the Owner of a 5-Star Luxury Hotel: Palms Luxury Boutique Hotel in Dakar, Senegal with over 60 employees. Her name is Souadou Niang.
Souadou Niang was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal. At 18 years old she migrated to New York then moved to Washington DC to continue her studies.
While studying, she worked as a cleaning lady at Ritz-Carton Hotel. Her dream was to become part of the management. She got her first degree and after working with the hotel in Washington D.C for 10 years she became part of the management team.
While working in Washington D.C, she used to say: ” One day I will go back home and I will show that luxury and quality service can be achieved there.”
In 2017, she returned back to Dakar Senegal and opened Palms Luxury Boutique Hotel.
She decided to put a structure led by women to prove that women are capable. In her words: ”women are born managers, they have the capacity to manage a lot of things. All they need is a short training course to have what you want.”
Was it easy to own a 5 star luxury hotel in Dakar Senegal? No!
She was told she will not go far, this is not for African woman. She was rejected by many banks to finance the project until one day she met in a meeting, the director who manage all the bank’branches in Africa.
He believed in her dream due to her tenacity, passion and took the risk to lend her the money.She plans to expand her empire in Africa and around the globe.
Key lessons for our readers today
Do you have a dream but you are scared? The advice from our champion: ”Look in the mirror, ask yourself these questions: WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHERE ARE YOU GOING? ARE YOU READY?
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF