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Africa Sun, a Zimbabwe-based hotel and leisure company, will complete the building of a 160-room hotel in Gaborone in the first quarter of 2010.
Its Chairman Eben Makonese said the hotel is being built in Gaborone's new central business district and will be completed in time for the FIFA World Cup to be hosted by South Africa in 2010.
The Gaborone project, said Makonese in a statement accompanying the company's 2007 financial results, is part of Africa Sun's African expansion programme under which the group is involved in projects in Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania.
Makonese said Africa Sun has opened two more hotels in South Africa and Nigeria while another hotel in Lagos, Nigeria will be opened in August this year.
"Subsequent to the period under review," said Makonese, "two hotels have been added to the group, namely The Lakes, a 151-roomed conference hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa and the Obudu Ranch Resort, a 159-roomed facility in Nigeria," said Makonese.
"Preparations for the opening in August 2008 of Clear Essence California Resort and Spa in Lagos, Nigeria are at an advanced stage. The refurbishment of the hotel in Kano is set to be completed before the end of the current year."
In Arusha, Tanzania the redevelopment of an existing hotel, to be named the Holiday Inn, is progressing well. In Equatorial Guinea, Africa Sun is investing in that country's first hotel school in Mongomo in partnership with the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Makonese said by the end of this year, rooms outside Zimbabwe managed by Africa Sun will grow from 73 to 1, 200.
In Zimbabwe, the group is building a new hotel in Beitbridge near the border with South Africa while the five-star Elephant Hills Resort is undergoing refurbishment.
"Under the Zimbabwe expansion programme," the Chairman added, "the construction of a new hotel in Beitbridge is expected to commence in the second half of the current year. The refurbishment of existing hotels in Zimbabwe is progressing well. The enhancement of entertainment at Elephant Hills Resort is set to commence in the current period."
The ongoing projects are meant to improve service delivery, Makonese added. Africa Sun is one of Zimbabwe's two biggest hotel and leisure groups. The other is Cresta Hospitality, which is also active in Botswana, Malawi and Ghana. In Zimbabwe alone, Africa Sun has at least 10 hotels and lodges. In South Africa, the group owns The Grace.
Commenting on the outlook of the Zimbabwean economy, Makonese said the difficult economic situation in the country as well as travel warnings being issued by traditional source markets in Europe and North America could adversely affect Africa Sun's performance.
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