Serena group acquires hotels in Rwanda
By A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Serena Hotels takes over two of Rwanda’s leading hotels next month.
Following a 30-year lease agreement with the government of Rwanda, Serena will take over the Kigali Intercontinental and Kivu Sun Hotel from February 1.
The lease was signed in Kigali on January 9 by Rwanda’s Finance and Economic Planning Minister James Musoni and Serena Hotels managing director Mahmud Jan Mohamed.
John Mirenge, the chairman of Prime Holdings — which has been running the two establishments — was present at the signing ceremony.
The decision to lease the two hotels to Serena Hotels was unanimously endorsed by the Rwanda Cabinet in October 2006 after successful negotiations between Prime Holdings and Serena Hotels.
Following the takeover, the Kigali Intercontinental, a 104-room five-star hotel located in the heart of the country’s capital, will be renamed the Kigali Serena Hotel.
Serena will invest $9.5 million in the construction of an additional 50 bedrooms as well as a modern health and fitness centre.
The 72-room four-star Kivu Sun Hotel on the shores of Lake Kivu close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo will be developed into a five-star spa facility known as the Lake Kivu Serena Hotel.
Commenting on the potential of the two hotels, Mr Jan Mohamed said he had no doubt that the new facilities would soon attain the same quality levels as other Serena properties in the region.
Serena Hotels, he added, sees great potential in the Rwandese market, and will actively seek to expand its operations in the country through acquisition of existing properties or new developments.
“Serena Hotels is committed to offering a quality product to our clients, exciting careers for our staff, and satisfactory returns to our shareholders,” he said.
Serena Hotels’ entry into Rwanda caps a major expansion programme in the region that last November saw the group open the Kampala Serena Hotel, which has quickly gained a reputation as one of the most elegant hospitality establishments in the Ugandan capital.
The Kampala Serena was last week chosen as one of the hotels to host the opening ceremony for the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government.
Built on 17 acres of lush grounds, the Kampala Serena has 152 beds and was refurbished at a cost of $30.5 million over a 17-month period. It has the capacity to cater for 1,500 delegates.
The entry of the Serena group into Rwanda coincides with that country’s admission into the East African Community (EAC), and is expected to boost the country’s profile in the tourism sector.The Serena establishments in Rwanda are also expected to have a significant ripple effect on the country’s economy through the supply of goods and services by local firms.
The Serena Group of Hotels is owned and operated by Tourism Promotion Services, an arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED).
In the Eastern AfricaN region, Serena Hotels has expanded from just four properties in Kenya in the early 1970s to 19 properties in Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Uganda and now Rwanda. Serena also owns and manages properties in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
The Serena Hotels Group is part of a broad development programme by AKFED in East Africa that includes healthcare; primary, secondary and tertiary education; training for professionals, including nurses and doctors; infrastructure projects that include hydroelectricity and rural electrification and other private- sector initiatives ranging from the fabrication of fish nets for Lake Victoria’s fishermen to, the manufacture of essential pharmaceuticals and media operations.
Ismailimail 