The elite hotels of Africa serve as an interface between the tribal, religious, social and cultural aspects of Africa and the global uniformity of international business culture. They are also the places where the unseen resources of many African countries oil, diamonds, minerals are bartered away behind closed doors. These are environments which have a strangely hybrid quality their design, their cuisine, musak and global TV echoing ‘international’ standards. Yet they are ultimately sites of tension, where cultures collide and conflict. At the same time, however, these hotels are viewed by their...