Ethiopian Airlines Still Keen to Build Four-Star Hotel on Africa Avenue

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Ethiopian Airlines is seeking international companies to build a four-star hotel in two and half years, on a plot near Bole International Airport, a plan its management has been tinkering with for years now.

Estimated to have cost 300 million Br two years ago, the national carrier wants to see a hotel of international standard is built on a 40,000sqm plot it has on a land opposite to the Millennium Hall, on Africa Avenue (Bole Road). The company has invited last week international construction firms to “design and build” on a turn-key contract basis.

This was not the first offer Ethiopian has made to let companies bid to build the hotel.

It had announced a bid in January 2009 to hire consulting firms to design and supervise the construction of the hotel, where domestic companies such as National Consult Plc, Ultimate Plan Plc, and ETG Designers & Consultants Plc, all in partnership with their international associates, had made their offers. Nonetheless, the management had cancelled this in November 2009, claiming to have an interest in searching for other alternatives.

The national carrier wanted to have instead a company that could “design and build”, while along the way it will hire consulting firms to review the design and provide supervision as well as contract administration services, according to an architect who is an insider to the industry.

Ethiopian had entered into a 60 million dollars joint venture arrangement with the China-Africa Development (CAD) Fund and HNA Hotels & Resorts Group (HNA Group), where the parties had signed a tripartite agreement in November 2009, in Egypt. Ethiopian would have a 53pc share, while CAD and HNA Group would have 28.2pc and 18.8pc shares, respectively.

It has been close to two years since the joint venture agreement has been inked, although the construction of the hotel is yet to materialize. However, Ethiopian officials have declined from disclosing whether they have forgone the joint venture arrangement with these companies in their latest invitations of international construction firms, which they say ought to have a local partner.

Source: Addis Fortune