President Lazarus Chakwera has assured Nico Holdings plc that government will provide any support required for the timely completion of the group’s Protea Hotel by Marriot Lilongwe Ryalls project within Lilongwe Golf Club premises.
The President gave the assurance after inspecting the construction works yesterday and said he was impressed with the progress of the project which started 18 months ago.
Briefing the media after his tour, Chakwera said the project is in line with the country’s long-term development blueprint, the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) and the agriculture tourism and mining (ATM) strategy; hence, should be supported accordingly.
Said the President: “I’m so happy that I have been able to see. This is an elegant project and it’s helping us work together in partnership in order to create jobs and ensure that together we can truly make Malawi a tourist destination by providing an infrastructure network.”
His visit came a month after Minister of Tourism Vera Kamtukule toured the site when it was revealed that the project could miss the December deadline due to forex challenges.
In his remarks, Nico Group managing director Vizenge Kumwenda, who is also Blantyre Hotels plc board chairperson, said the project had stopped after phase one due to forex challenges but it resumed and is making good progress.
He said: “I’m glad to say that we are here now because really we were sort of concerned to say how quickly we are going to move.
“In fact we started the project late, because before starting we wanted to make sure that we have the funding in place but also we wanted to make sure that we have the forex to support us.”
He said Blantyre Hotels raised K62 billion through a rights issue in December 2024 to finance the project.
Meanwhile, Kumwenda said in terms of forex, they have raise $12 million through NBS Bank plc and National Bank of Malawi plc, but due to complexity of the finishing phase there is a lot to be done.
During her visit, Kamtukule expressed satisfaction with the progress –highlighting the uniqueness of the project, whose location makes it strategic to tourists, including for international conferences.
The 180-bed Four Star Hotel project, whose construction is projected to cost $56 million (about K100 billion) was initially expected to be completed in August this year but the deadline has been shifted to December this year.
