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Preview
on our page from the East Africa World Edition
featuring the movie Last
King of Scotland.
The Oscar winning film was filmed on location in
Uganda about the cruel and despotic aspects of life
under Amin and drew much attention to the 'new
Uganda' as an investment and tourism destination.
Photo: Oscar winning actor Forest Whitaker in
Kampala during the filming with Mrs. Thome, who
also acted in the film as an extra.
 v.... .....
 News
from 'Uganda - Gifted by Nature'and East African
region
By Prof. Dr. Wolfgang
H. Thome.
News from 'Uganda &endash; Gifted by Nature' and
the East African region
Fourth edition June 2009
FINAL REPORT FROM THE AFRICA &endash; ASIA
SUMMIT
On the last day of the proceedings experts from
the participating governments agreed on the wording
of the respective policy recommendations for
sustainable development and the promotion of
tourism in Africa. This column has received a copy
during the press conference rounding up the summit,
which was hailed by participants from Asia and
Africa as a sound success. The Ugandan organizers
from the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry
and the Uganda Tourist Board were praised for their
fine preparations and the logistical support during
the summit, held at the Speke Resort and Conference
Centre in Munyonyo / Kampala.
(Quote) 'PARTICIPANTS from 20 African countries
and 6 Asian countries including representatives of
the private and public sector met in Kampala /
Uganda for the Fifth Africa &endash; Asia Business
Forum, AABF V &endash; from the 15th to 17th of
June 2009 in order to discuss, within the context
of the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD IV) Yokohama Action
Plan, the issues and challenges currently
confronting the tourism industry across the
continent of Africa, and to learn from the
experiences of partner countries and organizations,
how to successfully plan, develop and market
tourism products and overcome constraints including
health and safety. They took note of specific
actions to be pursued under the TICAD IV Yokohama
Action Plan, including the need to:
- Encourage and assist African countries'
efforts to address security, hospitality
management, infrastructure and environmental
constraints to tourism development, including
through tourism training programmes;
- Support tourism operators to increase
familiarisation with African destinations and to
improve knowledge of the continent and its tourist
attractions;
- Take advantage of the opportunities provided
by the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa;
- Support long term tourism promotion through
events such as travel fairs
In this context, and in an effort to provide
impetus to the implementation of these activities,
the participants made the following policy
recommendations, emphasising the importance of
uniting and harmonizing all stakeholders under
public-private partnerships in a holistic
manner:
1. There should be concentrated focus on the
development and promotion of tourism from Asian
countries, including Japan, to Africa for the 2010
FIFA World Cup and beyond;
2. A targeted marketing strategy should be
identified based on analysis of trends, profile and
orientation of potential inbound travellers to
Africa;
3. Japan International Cooperation Agency
&endash; JICA, relevant international organizations
such as the UN World Tourism Organization and
partners including within the African continent
should support programmes to build African
capacity, at destination, national and regional
level, with respect to tourism development. This
would include the implementation of master plan
studies and feasibility studies on various aspects
of tourism, dispatch of tourism development experts
and language instructors, mounting of tourism
promotion seminars and workshops and production and
distribution of educational and awareness raising
materials. The 'One Village One Product' initiative
promoted under cooperation by Japan External Trade
Organization (JETRO) and JICA should be expanded
further for the development and overseas marketing
of local products by communities;
4. The private sector of Japan and other Asian
countries are encouraged to make use of the various
funding facilities available under the Yokohama
Action Plan, and other cooperation programmes, to
carry out programmes / projects / activities aimed
at promoting tourism as an element of boosting
economic growth while enabling conservation and
environmental protection in Africa;
5. FDI in the African tourism industry should be
seriously promoted. The specific focus of such
investment should be on the building of
international standard hotels and lodges,
restaurants, airline services and value addition to
African commodities, etc as well as an enabling
environment in terms of policy, legal and
regulatory frameworks. Relevant financial
institutions in both Africa and Asia, including the
Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC),
African Development Bank and Africa regional
development banks, and private bank, should
actively disseminate information about their
applicable facilities to promote such
investment;
6. Africa countries with the support of TICAD
co-organizers and other partners should make
collective efforts to strengthen regional
capacities of all five sub-regional of the
continent so that they can promote in Japan and
other Asian countries their tourist attractions in
the region;
7. The increase of international air services,
including charter services, directly between Asian
airports, especially those in Japan, and Africa
should be encouraged with the view to capturing the
opportunities provided by the 2010 FIFA World
Cup;
8. Further reconnaissance missions to African
countries should be organized preferably before the
2010 FIFA World Cup in order to tap into the
tourism potential and to identify new tourist
destinations likely to be of interest or to appeal
to Japanese and other Asian tourists;
9. The media from Asia, especially TV
broadcasters and popular magazines should be
encouraged to increase coverage of Africa &endash;
with special focus on tourism destinations,
attractions, UNESCO World Heritage Sites etc. In
this regard further efforts should also be made by
the African side to promote greater awareness of
the continent's many tourism attractions and
improve the image of Africa;
10. Security issues related to the sustainable
development and promotion of tourism in Africa
should be given utmost attention by all relevant
stakeholders. Travel information on African
countries issued by the governments of Japan and
other Asian countries participating in the AABF V
could take into account the efforts by African
countries to promote tourism in the respective
country, while ensuring the safety of
travellers;
TICAD co-organizers will monitor the progress of
the above mentioned activities and incorporate it
into the tourism section of annual progress reports
on the implementation of the Yokohama Action Plan
which will be presented at Annual TICAD Ministerial
Follow Up meetings.' (Unquote)
The participating governments ended the AABF V
Summit in Munyonyo / Kampala by signing various
bilateral and multilateral MoU's while the private
sector participants actively cooperated in their
own dedicated ending session to build partnerships
spanning not just Africa but as far as the Asian
countries.
BRUSSELS AIRLINES CONFIRMS EU
APPROVALS
Sources from both Brussels and Kampala have
confirmed that Lufthansa was given approval by the
European Commission to go ahead with the
acquisition of Brussels Airlines earlier in the
week. LH will now formally take 45 percent of
Brussels Airline's parent company at an estimated
65 million Euros with the option of acquiring the
balance of the shares in 2011. Concerns over
competitive advantages were apparently resolved
through certain concessions by the German airline
such as yielding 'slots' from and to Brussels on
key services to Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich to new
airlines or existing competitors on those
routes.
The move will however add muscle to the LH
family through SN's extensive Africa network, where
in particular Eastern Africa receives daily flights
from Brussels, flying to such airports as Nairobi,
Entebbe, Kigali and Bujumbura.
KAFRED OFFERS NEW FOREST AND COMMUNITY
EXPERIENCE
Former General Manager of Uganda Heritage
Trails, John Tinka, has now reappeared in the Fort
Portal / Kibale area working at the Kibale
Association for Rural and Environmental
Development, in short KAFRED. The community based
association has amongst its objectives the aim to
conserve biodiversity at community level, promote
eco friendly tourism practises and assist the local
community to engage in sustainable business
ventures. The nearby 'Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary' is
the first manifestation of KAFRED's community
engagement and on offer are guided nature walks
taking anywhere between a few hours to a full day,
interpretive nature and village walks where the
daily life of a rural African community unfolds in
front of visitor's eyes. Traditional home cooked
meals, using fresh local ingredients, are also
available for visitors, as are dance and drama
sessions performed by local artists &endash; this
requires prior booking however. The local women
groups produce curio items and handicrafts for
purchase by visitors, bringing much needed cash
into the villages, while some families are
available to open their homes and offer tourists a
'home stay'. The Tinka family is at the forefront
of this trend of course, knowing intimately well
what is expected by tourist visitors from his
previous work in creating the Buganda Heritage
Trail in Central Uganda.
KAFRED collaborate in their activities with the
UNWTO, the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme, UCOTA
(The Uganda Community Tourism Association), UWA,
IUCN, Nature Uganda and other international and
local conservation and environmental NGO's. Write
to John Tinka for more information via
comm-tour@infocom.co.ug
NEMA LAUNCHES 'ATLAS' OF UGANDA'S CHANGING
ENVIRONMENT
The National Environmental Management Authority
has late last week launched a detailed breakdown of
the changing environment in the country while at
the same time also presenting to the general public
the 'Environmental Sensitivity Atlas for the
Albertine Graben' and the 8th edition of the Uganda
State of the Environment Report.
The more than 200 page strong book on the
changes in the national environment has drawn a
range of positive comments, and demands for more of
the publications to be availed to researchers,
environmental groups and the public at large. It
contains detailed satellite images and dozens of
photographs, permitting comparison to what used to
be and what is now.
The Albertine Graben Atlas too is a detailed
piece of research work and provides an overview on
resources, archaeological sites and human
settlements and their impact, but also points out
sites near the oil exploration sites which are
particularly sensitive to the impacts of the oil
industry. It is here in particular that NEMA
sounded warnings about the potential impact of oil
exploration and that, if best international
environmental state of the are methods are not
used, great damage could result towards nature and
wildlife conservation.
Finally the State of the Nation Environmental
Report, produced biannually since 1994, will be
useful as a major planning, policy and reference
tool.
NEMA chose the theme 'Sustainable Environment
for Prosperity' &endash; fitting in well with the
President's election manifesto 'prosperity for
all'.
Interested readers can find more information via
www.nemaug.org
UGANDA WILDLIFE AUTHORITY TO CELEBRATE THE
'UN YEAR OF THE GORILLA'
It was learned earlier in the week that UWA is
planning a major event to celebrate the United
Nations 'Year of the Gorilla 2009' some time in
middle of July and once more details are available
this column will update the readers. Watch this
space.
GOVERNMENT NOW CLEARS NEW SHIMONI
INVESTORS
The notorious Shimoni hotel development, which
brought Kingdom Hotels into great disrepute in
Uganda over the destruction of a leading primary
school and teachers training college some years
ago, only to then sit on their hands and ponder
their options, is now finally going ahead. A new
consortium has apparently been cleared by
government following a legal opinion by the
Attorney General's office, which appears to
sanction the contracts between the new investors
and Kingdom Hotels as legally binding. This should
also put an end to the public spat which erupted
between company officials and the former Minister
of State for Investment, now the Ugandan Ambassador
in the UAE, Prof. Semakula-Kiwanuka, who had called
one member of the new consortium a 'briefcase
company' at the time. Watch this space as the saga
continues.
ANOTHER INVESTOR MOVES IN ON ZAIN'S AFRICA
OPERATIONS
Recent reports in the media suggest that a
takeover or buyout is now imminent for Gulf based
Zain's Africa network, which is a surprise since
Zain themselves only bought out Celtel not too long
ago.
Zain's network across Africa offers a unique
single tariff when calling from any of their local
networks and roaming is free of charge as long as
it entails calls within its own network, no matter
where the calls are made from in Africa. This
correspondent, being with the initial Celtel from
the very launch in 1995, has seen the company
change owners and branding now several times over
and has remained a committed client owing to the
quality of the network and the full integration of
their African operations. New owners are reportedly
going to be the France based Vivendi and the
figures floated for the takeover are in excess of
12 billion Euros, a cool profit considering that
Zain had only paid some 3.4 billion US Dollars in
2005 when buying out the previous Celtel owners.
Should the deal go through it would be the second
major French telecoms company after French Telecom,
whose brand 'Orange' launched just recently in
Uganda, but is also present in Kenya already.
KAMPALA CAPITAL CITY AUTHORITY IN THE
OFFING
Long suffering Kampaleans are now holding their
breath, after government earlier in the week tabled
a new bill to dissolve the Kampala City Council and
create a greater metropolitan area with a new
administrative set up. Citizens of Kampala have
been suffering of a mixture of incompetence,
ignorance, arrogance and a very fair sprinkling of
corruption scandals, where pot holes are
re-emerging faster than they are being filled and
infrastructure crumbles, just as soon as central
government has restored services at their own
expense ahead of major international meetings.
The bill, as it is now tabled in parliament
&endash; though of course not yet passed &endash;
provides for a Resident City Commissioner and an
Executive Director, both to be appointed by the
President, while a new post of elected 'Lord Mayor'
is to be introduced, who would be elected as a
figure head from amongst the popularly and directly
elected councillors. It is also expected that the
planning functions and infrastructural investments
would be combined with surrounding municipalities
as far as Entebbe and Mukono, to coordinate long
term development planning as the city and
neighbouring communities continue to 'grow
together.
RWANDAIR OFFICES MOVE IN KAMPALA
The Rwandan national airline has recently moved
their airline offices from the Garden City Shopping
Mall to Rwenzori Courts, near the offices of
Brussels Airlines which are located in adjoining
Rwenzori House. Not long ago did the two airlines
sign a cooperation agreement which now features
Rwandair flight numbers on the code shared service
from Kigali via Entebbe to Brussels, operated of
course by SN. Phone, fax and other contact details
remain the same but can be reconfirmed via
sales.kampala@rwandair.com or by visiting
www.rwandair.com.
Rwandair flies every morning and evening between
Kigali and Entebbe, using both the CRJ200 as well
as the Bombardier Dash 8 on its services. Flying
time, depending on the aircraft used on the day,
varies between about 35 minutes with the CRJ200 and
just under an hour with the Dash 8. Light
refreshments are served on board.
PRECISION AIR NOW OFFERS NAIROBI &endash;
MWANZA FLIGHTS
The privately owned and largest Tanzanian
airline will at the beginning of July commence
scheduled flights from Nairobi to Mwanza, initially
four times a week, using their proven ATR aircraft
on the route. This will be good news for Mwanza
residents who can now easily connect non stop to
Nairobi and then fly on to elsewhere in the region,
across the continent of to Europe and Asia,
choosing from a wide range of airlines now
frequenting Nairobi. The flights will operate on
Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tourist
visitors too may be pleased about the new
connections, as Mwanza puts the Grumeti sector of
the Serengeti within easy reach by vehicle, opening
up new routings and safari circuits.
EMIRATES TO ADD MORE FLIGHTS TO
NAIROBI
An airline source in Kampala confirmed to this
column that plans are underway to add more
frequencies between Dubai and Nairobi, as the award
winning airline apparently intends to up their
presently 12 flights a week to a full double daily
commencing later in the year, when economic
recovery has taken hold. This will be good news for
tourism marketers and traders, as both passenger
and cargo capacity will be boosted. The Gulf area
attracts a lot of visitors from Kenya while
tourists take advantage of low airfares, when
flying via the various Gulf stopover points to
Kenya and other East African destinations.
Presently Qatar Airways, Oman Air and Air Arabia
offer flights from and to their home bases and
beyond, besides of course the best known Gulf
airline Emirates. Kenya has been attending the
important Arabian Travel Market in Dubai for many
years now, promoting holiday packages for Gulf
citizens and their large expatriate community.
EU SUPPORTS KENYA MARKETING EFFORTS WITH A 2
MIO US DOLLAR PLEDGE
Information was received from Kenya that the
European Union, already supporting sustainable
tourism developments in the country, has offered a
160 million Kenya Shillings boost for marketing the
country. It is understood that a deal is in the
offing with CNN International to feature the
country alongside its regular programmes to draw
attention to the destination and attract more
visitors to the country. This will bring a sigh of
relief to the marketing people having to sell the
country, as after the reading of the budget
grumbles were heard from across the industry for
not having enough funding to do the job.
MALINDI FIRE DESTROYS OVER 250 HOLIDAY
HOMES
A fiery blaze over the weekend, reportedly the
biggest fire ever seen in Malindi, has claimed more
than 250 holiday residences and over 50 cars parked
in the compounds, as the flames went out of
control, fuelled by strong winds from the ocean.
The fire broke out around mid day and all efforts
by the Malindi fire brigade and police to halt the
spread of the fire were futile. Most of the
buildings had traditional 'makuti' or palm leave
panel covered roofs, and flying debris from the
initial fire then set ablaze one building after the
next as the winds literally blew the fire across
the entire neighbourhood. The Palm Tree Club also
burnt down, just ahead of the upcoming high tourist
season, when the traditional holiday period in
Europe is about to start in July. The mainly
Italian owners of the holiday homes are now
awaiting the investigations to finish so that their
respective insurers can begin to process the
inevitable claims and have their properties
rebuilt.
AGOA MEETING COMING TO NAIROBI
A major meeting will take place in Nairobi in
early August, when a 300+ strong delegation is
expected to arrive from the United States, likely
to be led by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. The
African Growth and Opportunities Act, passed under
the Bush administration in its present format, will
also bring ministerial delegations from across
Africa to Nairobi to discuss the way forward and
how best America can support efforts to stabilise
the African economies and help them grow by
absorbing more exports. However, it was already
mentioned in the region by observers, that recent
action like the halt of the Delta Airlines flights
to Nairobi upon Department of Homeland Security
advice and existing (anti) travel advisories by the
State Department need to be urgently reviewed if a
true partnership is to take roots in all matters of
trade and the free flow of visitors for trade and
tourism in both directions.
MORE DELAYS FOR B787 DELIVERY
EXPECTED
Both Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines must
now brace themselves for yet more delays on the
delivery of their ordered B787's, initially dubbed
'dreamliner' but now turned nightmare for Boeing
and their faithful customers. News earlier in the
week that Qatar Airways may in fact ditch their
entire Boeing order in favour of Airbus models
because of the mounting delays must have shocked
the Bowing management in Seattle, when the airline
chairman blasted Boeing for 'having lunches and
dinners' while the problems on the factory floor
went from bad to worse. Even ANA of Japan has now
expressed their 'disappointment' over the fresh
delays, as they were to received the very first
B787 from Boeing, 'disappointment' of course being
the understatement of the month. Watch this space
as the writing is up on the wall for Boeing
now.
TANZANIAN HOTELIERS COMPLAIN ABOUT BUDGET
MEASURES
Proposals made by the Minister for Finance in
Tanzania, while reading the 2009/10 budget, are
apparently aimed at scrapping incentives for
investors in the hotel industry, which so far
provided for duty free importation of essential
items not locally produced. The Hotel Association
of Tanzania reacted promptly by demanding that the
incentives be kept in place in order to keep the
sector not only competitive but also attract new
investments to the country. The association
demanded the proposals to be rescinded and sought
appointments with the Prime Minister, the Finance
Minister and the Investment Authority.
The Tanzania Association of Tour Operators too
voiced their disappointment and concern over the
budget measures proposed, which some stakeholders
said would discourage tourists coming to Tanzania
over the cost, while other countries in the region
were busy removing cost elements to stimulate
tourism sales.
SERENA ADDS TWO MANAGED PROPERTIES IN
TANZANIA
Information was received that Serena Hotels
will, effective 15th July this year, add two
properties to their management portfolio. The two
safari lodges are located in Southern Tanzania's
Selous Game Reserve, one of largest game reserves
in the world and home to a range of wildlife in a
generally undisturbed environment. The Selous
Wildlife Lodge and the Mivumo River Lodge will have
undergone an upgrade and refurbishment to lift them
to the standards of other Serena properties on the
safari circuits across Eastern Africa. The full
range of services found in other safari locations
will be available in the two latest additions to
the Serena stable. This includes guided walks, bush
picnics, game drives in their own vehicles with
guide totally acquainted with the area, river
excursions and of course the SPA treatment
facilities now available in every Serena
property.
CONTINUE
FOR MORE ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES BY DR. WOLFGANG
THOME ON EAST AFRICA
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