Emaar Hospitality Group, the leisure division of Dubai-based real estate developer Emaar Properties, said on Wednesday it has signed an agreement with West African conglomerate Kalyan Group to open a hotel in Togo, marking Emaar’s entry into sub-Saharan Africa.
The premium hotel in the Togolese capital city of Lomé will operate under Emaar’s Address Hotels and Resorts brand and is scheduled to open later this year.
“Our management agreement to operate Address Hotel 2 Février Lomé Togo is a significant landmark in our expansion to Sub-Saharan Africa,” Olivier Harnisch, chief executive of Emaar Hospitality, said in a statement to media on Wednesday.
“Togo is a fascinating country with strong growth prospects. It is also strengthening its tourism sector with the goal of increasing the [GDP] share of the industry from 2 to 7 per cent by 2020, investing in infrastructure upgrades and boosting the industrial sector,” Mr Harnisch added.
The 30-storey property, first established as Hotel 2 Février in 1980, is located seven kilometres from Lomé-Tokoin International Airport and occupies the tallest building in Togo. It will open its doors to guests following a rebranding and, once complete, will offer 256 rooms and suites, 64 serviced apartments, restaurants, meeting rooms, a ballroom and other facilities.
The management agreement was signed with the building’s owner Kalyan Hospitality Development, the hospitality arm of Kalyan Group, one of Togo’s largest conglomerates.
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Kalyan Group made its name in phosphates but has diversified into other industry sectors including dry bulk shipping, large-scale farming, commodities and hospitality. The hotels division is headed up by chief executive Ashok Gupta.
“Address Hotel 2 Février Lomé Togo is positioned to welcome business and leisure guests, led by its central location and iconic status as the tallest building in Togo,” Mr Harnisch said.
“In addition to boosting the hospitality sector, we will also contribute to the local economy by creating local jobs and extending training on hospitality services.”
Togo is the sixth international destination for the Address Hotels + Resorts brand, which has six hotels in Dubai. There are other, upcoming, Address projects in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Bahrain and the Maldives, as well as several planned new openings in the UAE, according to Emaar Hospitality.
The company, which operates 13 hotels in Dubai under its three hospitality brands Address, Vida Hotels and Resorts and Rove Hotels, aims to operate more hotels in Sub-Saharan Africa, one of its key growth markets, it added.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
The biog
Name: Sari Al Zubaidi
Occupation: co-founder of Cafe di Rosati
Age: 42
Marital status: single
Favourite drink: drip coffee V60
Favourite destination: Bali, Indonesia
Favourite book: 100 Years of Solitude
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
