The Teixeira Duarte/Feel Afrika consortium, which won the tender to operate and manage the Talatona Convention Hotel (HCTA), will invest about USD 10 million in the hotel complex.
According to businessman Jaime Freitas of Feel Afrika, the hotel, which has already undergone refurbishment work, is due to open on July 15, and around 100 recently hired staff are currently being trained.
Opened in 2009, the HCTA represented, at the time, an investment of USD200 million and was the first five-star hotel in Angola.
It was one of the assets that state oil company Sonangol decided to dispose of as part of the Angolan government’s Privatisation Programme, opting for a five-year concession with an option to buy.
According to the Institute for Management of State Assets and Participation (IGAPE) website, the amount awarded to the consortium, which will be the reference price for the call option, was 17.8 billion kwanzas (EUR 41 million).
Quoted by ECO, Freitas said that the consortium had committed to investing USD 10 million, of which it had already spent over USD 1 million on refurbishment work and equipment, given that the building was empty.
The businessman noted that the partnership with Teixeira Duarte (which owns three hotels in Angola via TD Hotels) was decisive, both due to the group’s experience in the hotel sector and construction, making it possible to carry out the work in a short period.
“I am one of the people most linked to the hotel business in Angola, and I believe that this has been a partnership that can complement and continue with other projects,” he noted.
The consortium also won the tenders for the concession of Infotur (Tourism Promotion Institute) hotels in the provinces of Huíla and Namibe, which will also undergo refurbishment in phases.
