The young André SOHAING moved to Douala, the economic capital from his native village, in 1950 to work as a “motorboy” for transporters between Besseke market and Lagos market. One thing led to another, he became involved in the “bayam sellam business” (buying and selling of everyday consumer goods).

The SOHAING Group really took off in 1958, when he set up “Les Etablissements André SOHAING”, a company specialized in consumer good trading.

His success in consumer good trading opened the door to mass retailing when, in 1980, he acquired Compagnie Soudanaise SA, a leader in the consumer retail sector.

While he was developing his import and distribution activities, André SOHAING took advantage of opportunities to acquire a substantial prime location real estate asset portfolio. He gradually became a major player in the Class A property market in the CBD of Douala and confirmed his business ambitions by making landmark property acquisitions from well-known players such as Mavromatis, Tsekenis and the oil company TEXACO, in the main Cameroonian cities.

In search of continuous business opportunities André SOHAING took advantage of investing in major multinational companies that were settling in Cameroon. This diversification process has not been smooth.

Even if some of these companies does not exist anymore, they have been a valuable source of experience for André SOHAING, on which he capitalized not only to consolidate his real-estate empire, but also to define his future lines of business: property and hospitality management.

The Akwa Palace Hotel was founded in March 1951 by a Greek businessman named Mavromatis Gerasimos under the name CICC (Compagnie Immobilière et Commerciale du Cameroun). Back then, it was a eighty-nine (89) rooms four floors building with a three-star hotel rating.

In September 1978, marked the acquisition of Akwa Palace to Mavromatis family. André SOHAING thus became the chairman of CICC Akwa Palace. After running the hotel for a few years, André SOHAING was keen to develop the business to keep up the competition with the major international chains (Méridien, Sofitel, Novotel) setting up in Cameroon. In 1983 was the launching of a new construction that could compete with these hospitality giants.

The extension included a 10 floors building with one hundred and twenty (120) and twelve (12) luxury suites. The opening was celebrated on January 1^st, 1986.

In November 1^st, 1988, André SOHAING introduced the hotel into the world’s most prestigious hotel chains by signing a management contract with PIH (Pullman International Hotels), hence the name of the hotel, which became Akwa Palace Pullman Douala.

Despite a fruitful partnership with PIH, the merged between Accor group in early 1990 did not maintained sub-Saharan Africa contract in their synergy agreements. So, at the end PIH contract in December 1993, Akwa Palace became the sole local brand with real international standards.

The Pullman experience gave André SOHAING confidence in the future development of his company. He started focus on the substantial real estate portfolio he had already acquired. This led to great constructions in Douala CBD (offices, residential, commercial and logistics).

His new goal was now to launch a local hotel chain from 4 to 2-star hotels with international standards. As part of this vision, SIGS SAS, SOGEAC and SOGETEL were created to modernize the management of the group’s real estate portfolio, and the hospitality branch.

Before passing away, the Group SOHAING chairman had already validated the group masterplan development and prepare the younger generation to take over, empowering his legacy by introducing his siblings (wife and children) in companies management.