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Namiwawa hotel partner shot dead in South Africa
By
Our Reporter - 15-08-2002 |
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A leading hotelier, who was leading South Africa’s based Legacy Hotels’ penetration into Malawi’s tourism industry, was gunned down in cold blood in South Africa over the weekend.
Bruno Corte, managing director of Legacy Hotels, was the leading figure in the hotel chain’s involvement with Malawi Development Corporation (MDC) over the management contract to run the five-star Namiwawa Hotel under construction in Blantyre along the Presidential route to Sanjika Palace.
South African Star newspaper said Corte was murdered while shopping together with his wife at the Campus Square shopping centre in Melville, Johannesburg on Saturday.
MDC general manager Patrick Makina described the loss of Corte as a big blow to the government investment arm’s quest to bring internationally recognised hotel management to Malawi.
“We received the news of his death with sorrow and sadness for a business colleague and contact that MDC came to know some three years ago. He was a driving force in influencing financial institutions in South Africa and the region to approve their participation in Namiwawa Hotel project,” he said.
Makina said Corte, through Legacy Hotels, was keen in buying a stake in Sunbird Hotels Limited, currently undergoing massive restructuring after it was listed on the stock exchange on Monday.
“But we believe the good people at Legacy under the chairmanship of Bart Dorenstein will take Legacy and associate companies to greater heights,” he said.
Makina also disclosed that Corte was very “much keen” at the Cape Maclear hotel and Liwonde lodge projects.
The Namiwawa Hotel, which is expected to open next April, is a joint venture between MDC with 82 percent shares and Press Trust holding the remaining shares.
The hotel, to cost about K1.1 billion, has been financed by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), PTA Bank and Commercial Bank of Malawi (CBM).
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