Business
Hilton Plans 350-Room Hotel In Lagos
Hilton has signed a man
agement agreement with Quality Inspection and Testing Services Limited (QUITS) to open a 350 guest-room and suite hotel at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
This is contained in a statement signed by Daniel Ford and made available to Journalists in Abuja.
“The hotel will be situated within close proximity to Ikeja as well as the passenger terminals at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, which services travellers flying to hundreds of destinations around the world.
“The hotel will comprise 350 guest-rooms, of which 72 are suites, an Executive floor and multiple food and beverage outlets, including a restaurant serving international cuisine and a speciality restaurant.
“It will also have a fashionable rooftop cocktail bar, a hip night club, an elevated pool deck, with lavish gardens and a striking horizon pool overhanging the side of the property.
“This will provide breath-taking views of the surroundings and a unique leisure experience for an airport property; it will also feature a spa and fitness centre,’’ Ford said.
He explained that business travellers and event planners would benefit from a wide choice of professional facilities across the 2,600sqm event space, including a 1,350sqm ballroom and 500 sqm junior ballrooms.
Similarly, Mr Patrick Fitzgibbon, the Senior Vice President, Development, EMEA, Hilton Worldwide said that Lagos was the seventh-fastest growing city in the world and the second largest in Africa.
“Strong growth is forecasted in both domestic and international travellers using Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
“So, this exemplary new hotel will be well placed to meet traveller’s needs, offering an unparalleled level of design, comfort and service,’’ Fitzgibbon said.
Mr Jim Holthouser, the Executive Vice President, Global Brands, Hilton said the hotel would further solidify their presence in Nigeria and be a great asset to their Hilton Hotels and Resorts properties trading.
“We have great confidence in this growing market and are proud to be pioneering exemplary guest experiences across the continent with our range of Hilton brands.
“Hilton is set to more than double its presence in Africa in the next three to five years, to more than 80 hotels and is focused on further development prospects across the continent.
“This signing is in addition to the recent signing of Legend Hotel Lagos Airport, Curio Collection by Hilton, also with QUITS, with an additional 76 guest rooms to be added.
“Thus bringing the room count up to 130-keys; these properties represent the two most recent hotels signed at Lagos Airport.
“The Curio hotel due to open in 2017, will be the first within the airport environment giving guests and airline passengers alike unrivalled ease of access to the airport’s facilities,” Holthouser said.
In his remarks, Mr Sam Iwuajoku,the Chairman and Chief Executive Officering of QUITS, said: “the signing of the agreement to open Hilton Lagos Airport is testament to a period of exciting growth and development for Lagos’’.
“Our plans to build an exceptional hotel at the international airport will revolutionise the traveller experience and also offer a state-of-the-art choice for conferences, meetings and events.
”We look forward to a very successful collaboration with Hilton Worldwide on this outstanding development,’’ Iwuajoku said.
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
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