Andrew Stegmann

First Marriott Hotels Planned In 7 African Countries

Marriott International, already the largest hotel chain in Africa, is continuing to expand on the continent and plans to build its first hotels in seven African countries between now and 2025, the company said in a press release.
New African countries where Marriott hotels are planned or under construction include Benin, Gabon, Kenya, Libya, Mauritius, Rwanda and Tunisia.Luxury-Hotels-in-Africa-Enjoy-an-African-Vacation-at-Our-Resorts-620x350
In 2014, Marriott, the world’s second-largest publicly traded hotel company, acquired South Africa’s Protea Hospitality Holdings for around $200 million. This almost doubled the Bethesda, Maryland-based company’s rooms in Africa to about 23,000 and it said it planned to continue expanding in Africa, Bloomberg reported.
“We have 25 Marriott brand hotels under construction in seven countries in Africa that will come on stream over the next four years,” Kyriakidis told Bloomberg in 2014. The new hotels “are going to bring us into Benin, Gabon, Ghana, Ethiopia and Mauritius. With our existing hotels plus those in the pipeline and those Protea operates today we will be in 16 countries in Africa by 2017.”
Since that statement in 2014, Marriott hotels have opened in Ghana and Ethiopia.
Marriott now has hotels in 10 African countries: Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, according to the company website.

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Andrew Stegmann

13 Cities In Africa With The Lowest Cost Of Living

Multinational companies frequently send employees to Africa so they can better compete in markets where skills are in short supply.africa

“As the global economy has become increasingly interconnected, close to 75 percent of multinational organizations are expecting long-term expatriate assignments to remain stable or increase over the next two years to address business needs,” said Ilya Bonic, senior partner and president of Mercer’s Talent business.

The world’s largest human resources consulting firm, New York City-based Mercer Mercer is a subsidiary of global professional services firm Marsh & McLennan.

Mercer’s Cost of Living survey helps multinational companies and governments determine how much they should pay their expat employees, the company said.

The survey includes 207 cities in five continents and measures the comparative cost of more than 200 items in each location including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods, and entertainment.

“Aligning workforce and mobility strategies by ensuring the right employees are in the right places is more critical than ever to manage globalization,” Bionic said. “Properly compensating employees on international assignments is as important as it is costly.”

Several cities in Africa rank among the most expensive, reflecting high living costs and high prices of goods for expats. Luanda (No. 1) remains the most costly city in Africa and the world, followed by N’Djamena (No. 10), Victoria (No. 17), and Libreville (No. 30).

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Andrew Stegmann

Hearing of contempt of court charge against Home Affairs postponed

The case between the Department of Home Affairs and immigration lawyers, who are accusing the department of being in contempt of a High Court order, has been postponed to next month.CapeHighCourt4-MasixoleFeni-20160428_large

The case arose after Home Affairs withdrew an instruction allowing asylum seekers and refugees to apply for permanent residence without giving up their asylum or refugee status. They also withdrew an instruction allowing asylum seekers and refugees to apply for temporary residence without a valid passport.

The matter was set down for 21 April in the Western Cape High Court, but Home Affairs requested a postponement as it was not ready for court proceedings.

Gershon Mosiane, Chairperson for the Forum of Immigration Practitioners of South Africa (Fipsa), which is bringing the case, accused Home Affairs of continuing to “frustrate the lives of asylum seekers and refugee seekers by deliberately delaying court processes”, of “not filing answering affidavits timeously” and of wasting taxpayers’ money.

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Andrew Stegmann

New 160km Bike Trail to Open Along Garden Route

A 160 km cycling track between George and Plettenberg Bay, part of a much larger plan to make the Western Cape a biking mecca, is planned to be launched early next year.Screen-Shot-2016-04-27-at-11.18.18-AM

The Western Cape government said in a statement this week that the route, which will be the first part of the projected “Cape Cross” cycling route from Cape Town to Southern Cape, will include road track, mountain trails, jeep and forest tracks.

“Our aim is to position the Western Cape as the Cycling Capital of Africa,” said Alan Winde, Western Cape’s Minister of Economic Opportunities.

Upcoming work includes putting up signage, as well as assessing accommodation, cycling tracks and bike shops along the way. The development of the new route is being driven by the Western Cape government, Wesgro, local municipalities and private sector stakeholders in the region.

Winde said the Cape Cross project was one of various initiatives through which the Western Cape was hoping to add another 100,000 jobs to the tourism sector in the province.

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