Kenya’s TPS Eastern Africa signs $20 mln loan agreement with France’s Proparco

Hotelier TPS Eastern Africa said it had signed a $20 million loan agreement with French development institution Proparco, to support the refurbishment and redevelopment of its properties in Kenya.

The company, which operates a chain of luxury hotels, lodges and tented camps across east Africa under the brand name of Serena, said the funding would support growth of its business in Kenya over two years starting in 2016.

“The Nairobi Serena Hotel will undergo redevelopment and refurbishment commencing in year 2016 on a phased basis,” the company said in a statement late on Monday.

The project will include new conference and banqueting facilities, refurbished bedrooms and public areas, the company added.

“Investments in other Serena properties in Kenya will continue to be implemented on an ongoing basis.”

Kenya’s tourism industry is recovering from a slowdown triggered by attacks blamed on al Shabaab militants from neighbouring Somalia that led to warnings against non-essential travel to the coast by Western governments.

Britain, the source of more than half the country’s tourists, lifted a travel advisory covering most of the coast in June, boosting chances of a recovery. Bookings to coastal resorts have improved over the past few months.

Visitor arrivals to east Africa’s largest economy fell by a quarter in the first five months of this year, to 284,313 from 381,278 in the same period last year, data from the Kenya Tourism Board showed.

TPS Eastern Africa swung posted a loss of 139 million shilling ($1.34 million) in the six months through June, compared with a profit of 58 million shilling in the same period of 2014.

($1 = 103.5500 Kenyan shillings)

NAIROBI (Reuters)