A half-billion birr (€15.61m) hotel is currently being built in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Ronali Hotel will have 203 rooms and, once finished, will create employment for 250 people.
The nine-storey hotel – located in the Bole District – has, to date, completed 64 rooms, gym, conference room, restaurant, cafe, bar, spa, and commercial centres for a cost of Br350m (€10.93m), with an additional Br150m (€4.68m) being allocated to furnish the other rooms and construct a swimming pool, spa and sauna.
The 1 200sqm land on which the hotel is being built, was originally earmarked for a real estate development, but the owner of the hotel, Tadele Mulu, says he changed his mind on the purpose of the land on advice from a friend. Mulu is a civil engineer and co-owner of Ronali Construction Plc., who opened the six-storey Empire Addis Hotel in 2011, near Bole International Airport. Ronali Construction, the primary builder of the new hotel, has been in business for over two decades with experience in construction of over 30 condominium buildings for the Addis Ababa City Administration.
Ronali is one of 35 hotels currently being built in the capital, according to the Addis Ababa Culture and Tourism Bureau, and is expected to achieve a four-star rating once operational.
Mulu says that he believes “Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia, are becoming recognised internationally as centres of conference tourism”, which is seconded by Kumneger Teketel, Managing Director of Ozzie Business and Hospitality Group, who says the hotel will have a positive impact on the tourism industry. "It can bring price options for customers," he says. "Besides, it is located at a strategic location, where the Addis-Africa International Convention and Exhibition Centre (AAICEC) is being built."
The exhibition centre is under construction, with an estimated cost of Br2.7b (€84.32m). The two-phase build will consist of construction of the centre and shops in the first phase, and development of a conference centre with a capacity to hold 5 000 people, a restaurant and hotel, in the second.
