Dubai World scraps most of its Rwanda tourism plans

Dubai World has scrapped six of eight planned tourism developments in Rwanda in a dramatic scaling back of a $230m investment first announced by the firm in 2007.

According to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), which promotes foreign investment in the east African state, Dubai World has pulled out of all but two of its ambitious tourism schemes, citing the impact of the global financial crisis.

The planned portfolio had included a sprawling luxury hotel and golf course in the capital Kigali, and an eco-lodge in Akagera national park, but these projects have been shelved, said Clare Akamanzi, deputy CEO at RDB.

“Dubai World [is] currently facing some challenges with the financial crisis, which is affecting a lot of private companies,” she told Arabian Business.

“As of now they have not invested the sum they originally said they would and we don’t know if they will. It might be premature to call them our biggest investor.”

The UAE-based conglomerate is continuing with two projects, she said - the redevelopment of a lodge in Kinigi, near Volcanoes National Park, which is home to one of the world’s last mountain gorilla bands, and an eco-lodge at Nyungwe Forest National Park.

“Those two projects are continuing, and the others will be determined once the financial crisis subsides and [Dubai World] are able to fund them,” Akamanzi said.

State-owned Dubai World had said the $230m investment, which was to be handled through its subsidiary Istithmar Real Estate, would make a “significant contribution to the tourism offering in Rwanda”.

Construction on the eight projects was initially slated to start at the end of 2007.

The news has dealt a blow to the African country, which has earmarked tourism as a key means of reducing its dependency on aid by attracting private investments.

“The decline in foreign investments is difficult - we’re counting on investments such as that promised by Dubai World to promote tourism,” Akamanzi said. “It’s a big part of our economy, and we have to mobilise such investments to support our growth.”

The UAE-based conglomerate had previously withdrawn from a tender battle for a stake in two of Rwanda’s state-owned tea estates and factories, Gisakura and Kitabi.

Rwandan trade minister Monique Nsanzabaganwa has also revealed the government is re-advertising a tender initially won by a Dubai World consortium in 2007, to install an electric fence around Akagera National Park.

The firm has failed to begin work on the fence, which is intended to separate local villages from the park and its wildlife, and the Rwandan government is now seeking a new partner.

A spokesperson for Dubai World told Arabian Business: "Dubai World has put on hold a number of projects until the market improves, including some tourism projects in Africa and elsewhere."

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