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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will soon join the hospitality industry in the country, owning chains of hotels across the country, including its first to be built in Mekelle, the seat of Tigary Regional State, 780km north of Addis Abeba, Fortune learnt.
It will be the first involvement in the military’s history, after senior commanders in charge of logistics and administration at the MoD agreed that to own and operate chain hotels saves money from recurrent budgets spent on accommodations, whenever guests come from abroad, according to officials at the Ministry. Though it is mainly constructed for such guests brought in by the Ministry, the hotels will also open be to the public, these officials said.
The first hotel, in Mekelle, designed by Sileshi Consult, will have six storeys on a 1,200sqm plot, which the military had been using as a health centre, sources disclosed. Projected to cost 165 million Br, the hotel is to be constructed by the Defence Construction and Engineering Enterprise (DCEE).
Under the supervision of MoD, it is a state-owned company established to satisfy the construction needs of the national defence forces, with a registered capital of 800 million Br. It is currently constructing a 109km road in Dallol, the harshest environment and hottest place on earth measured by average temperature, Afar Regional State, which will be an indispensable exit route to the Port of Tajourah in Djibouti.
The federal government has granted a concession right to a Canadian firm, Allana Potash Corp, which is in the process of starting production with one million tonnes of potash from the area. The construction project, which is expected commence with the completion of the road, is anticipated for the end of 2012 to early 2013, with minimal output expected by the end of 2014.
The building for the hotel in Mekelle, whose construction is expected to be launched in a couple of months, is part of a series of hotels that the MoD wants to own, covering Hawassa, Bahir Dar, as well as Addis Abeba, sources disclosed. The Ministry, which has a total budget of 6.5 billion Br for the current fiscal year, has allocated 600 million Br to finance the construction of these hotels, three of which are designed to have three-star grades, with the one in Addis Abeba at four-stars, sources disclosed.
The seven-storey hotel planned in the country’s capital will be erected on a 1,000sqm plot inside the Golf Club, a.k.a. officers club, on Chad Street, in front of the Federal High Court, Lideta District. The hotel will have around 60 rooms, conference rooms, and a swimming pool.
The Ministry has awarded ETG Designers & Consultants to develop the design for the hotel, according to sources. The local consulting firm designed and supervised the construction of the six-storey building yet to be inaugurated by the Airports Enterprise, inside Bole Airport. It was also a strong contestant in the design competition for the headquarters of Ethiopian Airlines, against four other consulting firms, including Sileshi Consult.
One of the oldest domestic consulting firms, Sileshi Consult is known for the design of the headquarters of the Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL), a landmark property at a prime location in Addis Abeba on Ras Mekonnen Street.
By MAHLET MESFIN
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER |
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