The Lurdes Mutola Foundation, the charitable body set up by Mozambique's best known athlete, former 800 metres world champion, Maria de Lurdes Mutola, has acquired the building that was once the Soviet embassy in Maputo, and plans to turn it into a luxury hotel.
According to Tuesday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax", the Foundation has bought the building from the Mozambican state for 600,000 US dollars, and has hired a team of consultants to assess its condition.
Ever since the Russian Federation embassy moved to new premises, over 15 years ago, the building has been unoccupied, and has fallen into considerable disrepair. The consultants will see what needs to be done to transform this empty shell into a hotel.
A preliminary estimate suggests that such a transformation will require an investment of 1.8 million dollars. The Foundation's managing director, Bruno Macamo, told "Mediafax" that, in order to make the project viable, the Foundation will need to form partnerships with local or foreign businesses, interested in running the hotel.
To find such partners, the Foundation intends to launch a public tender, immediately after the current studies have been concluded.
Macamo could not say how long it might take to rehabilitate the former embassy and reopen it as a hotel, but pledged that every effort was being made to finalise the studies urgently.
The Foundation hopes that money from the future hotel can be used to make its work sustainable.
SOURCE: AIM
