Rwanda’s convention centre to become iconic landmark

An artist’s impression of Kigali Conference Centre whose construction is ongoing. Its dome-like structure is set to make it the most iconic building in Rwanda. [Photo: Lydia Limbe/Standard]

Rwanda is putting up a landmark conference centre as part of its plans to reap from conference tourism. Kigali Conference Centre, a dome-like construction being built mainly using steel, will have a seating capacity of 2,600.

According to Frank Murangwa, the Meetings Incentive Conference and Events (MICE) Division Manager at Rwanda Development Board, the convention centre will have 10 meeting rooms of varying sizes and the main arena which makes a total of 11 meeting spaces. It will also host other facilities including four restaurants and bars: A lobby bar, lounge, all-day dining restaurant, plaza bar, buffet restaurant and an Italian Filini bar franchise.

Target

“We are mainly targeting meetings, conferences and forum planners within various global associations, NGOs, corporate, international bodies in an effort to maximise on the potential of regional and international conferences,” says Murangwa.

Rwanda Development Board (RDB), through Rwanda Convention Bureau Division under the Tourism and Conservation Department, is working closely with Radisson Blu to manage the convention centre and the hotel.

Radisson Blu, formerly Radisson SAS, is an upscale brand for Radisson Hotels primarily outside the United States, including those in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

These are operated by Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. In addition to Radisson Blu, other leading global hotel chains like Golden Tulip, Kempinski and Sheraton already have a presence in Rwanda.

It operates 265 hotels, with 42 projects in the pipeline, including Kigali Radisson Blu. RDB is already promoting Rwanda as a MICE destination and the convention centre is a key infrastructure in the MICE tourism.

The Kigali Convention Centre is a landmark project for the country in terms of branding. It is also a pull factor to attract large conventions and conferences to the country.

“Our plan is that while people come to Rwanda on a conference or meeting, we’ll package it such that they extend the length of stay and see other Rwandan attractions. We will then be solving the issue of seasonality that comes with tourism,” says Murangwa.

The iconic Kigali Conference Centre is set to open its doors by the end of 2015. It is estimated to cost a total of $360 million and is being built by Beijing Construction Engineering Group. The hotel section will have 292 rooms, as well as offices to let.

It will be a total of 28,000 square metres in size.

Financing

About 40 per cent of the project financing is contributed by Ultimate Concepts’ equity, which is raised by the public and private partners in the company, while the 60 per cent will be raised as external loans from regional and international banks.

The Government of Rwanda has identified MICE tourism as one of the key tourism segments to focus on, and as such is heavily investing in infrastructure; upgrading the current airport, and developing the Bugesera International Airport.

Bugesera International Airport will become Rwanda’s largest international airport. It will be Rwanda’s third international airport, and the country’s eighth airport.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2016.

The estimated cost for Phase I is $450 million (Sh39.15 billion), while Phase II is budgeted to cost $250 million (Sh21.75 billion), coming to a total of $700 million (Sh60.9 billion).