Kempinski makes announcement for the opening of two properties in Kenya

KEMPINSKI COMES TO KENYA AT LAST

The long awaited announcement has been made today that Kempinski has signed a management agreement with the locally incorporated Simba Corporation for a 200 suites and room hotel in the heart of Nairobi, Kenyas capital in addition to which a luxurious safari camp will be opened on the Olare Orok Conservancy, adjoining the Masai Mara Game Reserve.
The Nairobi Kempinski will be a fully fledged 5 star luxury hotel, bringing the Kempinski pedigree at last to Kenya, after withdrawing last year from Tanzania. The new hotels, due to be opened later in 2012, will offer state of the art meeting and conferencing facilities, very posh restaurants and lounges and a ballroom without the often disturbing pillars, giving functions held there that feel of open space with no obstructions between the back and front and one side and the other.
While no further information could be obtained due to the short time frame between the announcement becoming available and the time of going to press, it was ascertained that the luxurious tented safari camp will be setting new standards in terms of tent size and personalized service, location and food. To be set up on the banks of the Ntiakintiak river the views from the platform terraces each tent has will offer a sweeping vista of the Mara plains and hills.
Kempinski is no stranger to Africa and has a wide portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts in their collection, notably spanning from Egypt over the Seychelles to Djibouti, Chad to Namibia with Kenya and Ghana becoming the latest Kempinski countries on the continent.
This correspondent was an invited guest at the grand opening of the Kempinski Seychelles Resort and has extensively covered that fine property, in a TripAdvisor review as well as through articles published by eTurboNews.com/Africa and will provide regular updates on progress made on the two Kenyan properties now going into their final construction phases before opening. Watch this space for breaking news and regular news updates from East Africas and the Indian Ocean islands fast expanding hospitality industry.

Rosette Rugamba graduates from Aspen’s Global Leadership Course

ROSETTE RUGAMBA GRADUATES FROM ASPENS GLOBAL LEADERSHIP COURSE

(Aspen Leadership Initiative Networks African graduates)

Rosette Chantal Rugamba, well remembered for her time at the helm of ORTPN and then as Deputy CEO in charge of Tourism and Conservation at the Rwanda Development Board, has last week graduated as a Fellow of the Aspen Leadership Initiative alongside an impressive name list of other graduates drawn from all over the East African region. Rosette, who set up Songa Africa after leaving RDB two years ago, expressed her delight over her achievement, which she said was not just for me but also for my country Rwanda when she was nominated as a fellow of ALI back in 2010.
The fellowship comprises four seminar spread over a two-year period. During the seminars, fellows engage in Socratic conversations on various issues reading from classical and contemporary texts under the careful watch of expert moderators. The themes of the seminars include a study of leadership styles and a search for the fellows own moral compass and appreciation of how it affects their exercise of authority; a search of the Good Society (going back in history to understand the evolution of human societies, the political, cultural and spiritual structures that underpin them, sources of strength and instability, etc.); a look at the challenges of leading in an era of Globalisation, understanding the challenges leaders are facing in todays fast changing, connected and increasingly interdependent world defined by rapid technological, economic and societal changes and finally a study of the balance between self and society, encouraging fellows to think about their own legacies.
The Fellows also commit to carrying out a high-impact Leadership Project of their own choosing and design vetted and approved by their peers.

The 2010 Fellows whose class is aptly named "UWEPO" meaning "presence" in Kiswahili, were named as:

Stella Kilonzo, Chief Executive of Capital Markets Authority of Kenya, Magnus Mchunguzi, Vice President Commercial & MD of Ericsson South Africa, Awel Uwihanganye, Managing Partner of Tetea Uganda; David Mpanga, Partner, Kampala Associated Advocates; Dr Laila Macharia, Principal of Scion Real, Kenya, Richard Mugisha, Managing Partner, Trust Law Chambers of Rwanda; Leslie Rance, Head of Corporate and Regulatory affairs at British American Tobacco, Southern Africa Region, Andrew Rugege of Rwanda is Africa Regional Director of ITU and ITU Rep to the UN ECA in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Winnie Ouko, Managing Director, Lattice Consulting Limited of Kenya, Mugo Kibati, Director General, Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat; Pauline Mbayah, Director, ATMS Foundation, Johannesburg, South Africa; Jeremy Awori, MD and CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania Ltd, Rosette Chantal Rugamba, Founder, Songa Africa of Rwanda, Davith Kahwa, Founder, President & CEO, Equip Advisory Group (Pty) Limited of Tanzania, Frederick Kitaka-Mutebi, Co-Founder & Director of Finance, Quality Chemicals Ltd of Uganda and Rehmah Kasule, Founder and CEO of Century Marketing Uganda.
Speaking at the ceremony at the Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki over the last weekend, Dr. Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank was quoted to have said: The majority of African countries attained independence from their colonial rulers long before most of you were born. Half a century later, there is broad agreement Africa is turning the corner, building a new momentum. My view is that the challenge of the leadership now is how to sustain the momentum. It is for this reason that I am very pleased to be here to bear witness to a process of leadership development that gives me hope of a better future for our continent. I want you to know that in me and the institution I lead, ADB, you have a partner you can call upon whenever in need and please do so without hesitation. Our support for and partnership with the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) East Africa emanates from our firm belief in that tackling the leadership problem in Africa is key to the successful turnaround of our continent’s fortunes. I wish you all the best and look forward to engaging with you individually and collectively in the days and months ahead.
Capacity building at its best and at a level where truly the future of Africas economic development can be shaped to the better, this correspondents sentiment echoed also in the opening address by ALIs East Africa Chapter Chairman Ali Mufuruki when he said: We selected you to join this program because we believed that each and every one of you has within them the qualities of a great leader. Our purpose was and remains that of helping you to recognize and come to terms with that reality and the implied responsibility. This programme was designed to equip you with the tools you will need to face up to the responsibility of leading and by that I mean leading well. We have brought you together in this group so that you know you are not alone and have unlimited access to a vast network of resources you can rely on for useful feedback and wise counsel, a network of leaders whose values you share. So let’s go and do the work that awaits us with the confidence that derives from knowledge and the urgency the work demands.

Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) East Africa Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in June 2006 to roll out ALI Fellowship classes in East Africa. From 2008-2015, the ALI-EA Foundation Limited aims to identify, strengthen and motivate 180 East Africa ALI Fellows, with 45 each coming from Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya.
The launch of the ALI-EA Foundation set the pace for a passionate search for a new generation of leaders in East Africa, not just leaders who have achieved impressive levels of personal success, but enlightened and values-based leaders working together to build the good society.
The Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI) is designed to capture the energy, talent, and the resolve of an emerging generation of leaders in Africa, who have already realized a certain level of personal success, to inspire them to move from success to significance and from thought to action by engaging in the foremost challenges facing their countries and their times.
ALI is a collaborative effort of five partner organizations in Africa and the United States The Aspen Institute (United States), CETA Construction Services (Mozambique), the Databank Foundation (Ghana), Infotech Investment Group LTD (Tanzania), The Letsema Foundation (South Africa), to foster values-based, action-oriented leadership in Africa.
Congratulations to Rosette and all the other graduates and all the best for their future and for the future of Africa. Visit www.aspeninstitute.org for more information.

Emirates takes home Best Cargo Airline in the World, Best Cargo Airline in the Middle East and Best Cargo Airline to Africa awards

EMIRATES SKY CARGO NAMED AS CARGO AIRLINE OF THE YEAR

(Picture courtesy of Emirates via HK Strategies, Nairobi)

The annual Cargo Airline of the Year Awards, held at Londons Lancaster Hotel, once again crowned Emirates Sky Cargo as the cargo kings of the world. The airline was named as Best Cargo Airline in the World 2012 but also for the 24th time in a row captured the Best Cargo Airline in the Middle East trophy.
Notably for Eastern Africa, where the airline operates three dedicated cargo flights a week between Dubai and Nairobi, in addition to the uplift capacity on the double daily passenger services through under-floor pallets, did Emirates Sky Cargo also once again receive the Best Cargo Airline in Africa. Air cargo operations also extend to Entebbe and Dar es Salaam, Emirates other two East African destinations, from where mainly fresh chilled fish fillets, meat products, fresh produce and flowers are shipped daily to Dubai and beyond.
The airline presently operates 4 B777F, 2 B747-400F and 2 B747-400ERF, serving 12 cargo only destinations and a further 123 global destinations for exporters and importers via their hub in Dubai. Available information also confirmed that a further 5 B777F are on order and will join Emirates growing fleet in due course.

Qatar Airways uses ATM 2012 to reaffirm JRO and MBA launch dates

QATAR AIRWAYS CONFIRMS LAUNCH DATES FOR JRO AND MBA

Qatars award winning airline used the Arabian Travel Market 2012 as a platform to confirm their planned launch of new destinations for the next six months.
Of key importance is the start of flights to Tanzanias safari gateway of Kilimanjaro near Arusha, which has been reconfirmed to take place on 25th of July. The daily flights will be an extension of one of the two daily flights between Doha to Nairobi, and is expected to boost not only seat capacity, of crucial importance to the safari sector in Tanzania, but also increase global visibility for the country through added promotions and targeted marketing across the Qatar Airways network.
This will be followed just three weeks later on the 15th of August with the launch of flights to Kenyas Indian Ocean city of Mombasa, with these daily flights routing via Dar es Salaam, adding a second destination for Kenya too. Again, tourism stakeholders in Mombasa are excited about the prospects of having the worlds top rated airline commence daily scheduled flights to the coast and several have already expressed their interest to join hands with Qatar Airways to promote the destination with special initiatives.
Other destinations announced yesterday at ATM 2012 were Erbil and Baghdad in Iraq, Perth in Australia and Myanmars capital Yangon, while in Europe Croatias capital Zagreb will be added, to be served via Budapest.
The launch of Zanzibar, which will bring the total number of destinations in East Africa to then seven, will be in late 2012 alongside Belgrade and Helsinki.
But for now the East African tourism trade and regular travelers are counting down towards the July and August launch dates, when Qatar Airways will connect Kilimanjaro and Mombasa into their global network with daily flights on Airbus A320 equipment. Watch this space.