Lonrho officially opens Grand Karavia hotel in Lubumbashi, DRC

Lonrho’s (LON:LONR) Grand Karavia hotel  in Lubumbashi was officially opened in a ceremony yesterday attended by the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Joseph Kabila. The company said that Grand Karavia has already become a centre for commerce and social functions in Lubumbashi, since its doors opened in April in the hotel’s ‘soft-opening’.

Lubumbashi, in the south of the DRC, is the second largest city in the country and is the regional capital of the Katanga copper-cobalt mining province. Lonrho highlighted that the Katanga province has attracted approximately US$10bn in foreign investment into the DRC’s burgeoning copper industry, and the region considered as one of the country’s main economic drivers.

According to Lonrho, the 197-room Grand Karavia provides the only international standard accommodation in Lubumbashi. "This exciting new Lonrho Hotel is a testament to the economic development and progress being made in the Democratic Republic of Congo”, Lonrho executive chairman David Lenigas commented.

“The speed of growth in the local economy is clear, and the immediate popularity of the facilities provided by the hotel and the impressive number of reservations being made demonstrate the latent demand for an international standard quality hotel.”

The Grand Karavia property is held on a long lease from the government of the DRC, and through its subsidiary Lonrho Hotels, the company owns 50% of the Grand Karavia Hotel. Lonrho noted that US$20m has been spent on the project, including a US$10m long-term loan from the Development Bank of South Africa, under its mandate to support development in Africa.

Grand Karavia is situated in secure landscaped gardens beside a lake, and it offers five star accommodation combined with restaurants, bars, internet access and conference facilities as well as a health club, swimming pool and sports facilities.

“Lonrho Hotels takes great pride in the level of service and customer satisfaction that guests receive at any Lonrho property and I am sure that the Grand Karavia will be a natural extension of the Lonrho Hotels portfolio," Lenigas added

All five divisions, including Infrastructure, Agribusiness, Regional Transportation, Support Services and Hotels, have shown strong turnover growth in their operations ranging between 16% in Agribusiness to 108% in the Hotel division and averaging 25% across the group during Q2.

Lonrho has a 24.61% shareholding in LonZim (AIM: LZM), which has reported a turnover of £2.6 million and profit after tax of £0.9 million for the year ended 31 August 2009.

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