Boston Partners secures $50 million financing from Fairfax Africa Fund

Kuriftu to spread wing to East Africa.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Boston Partners Plc--the Ethiopian company well-known for building Kuriftu Resorts in different parts of the country–has cemented a USD 50 million deal with a US-based company–Fairfax Africa Fund, LLC— that will enable to expand the establishment of Kuriftu resorts to East Africa.

The US-based private equity and venture capital firm and Boston Partners has announced that they have signed a USD 50 million investment agreement to build, own and operate several hotels and resorts in East Africa including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti, according to the statement the companies sent to The Reporter.

“We are delighted to have FairFax as our strategic partner as we expand our successful Kuriftu brand hotels and resorts across east Africa in the next five years,” Tadios Belete, founder and CEO of Boston Partners said in a statement. “FairFax brings not only financial resources from its US-based investors but also high level international management expertise.”

Tadios went on to say that Boston Partners plan to build hotels along the historic routes of Ethiopia such as Lalibela, Axum, and Gondar, which currently have limited capacity to serve the ever increasing tourist traffic.

According to Tadios, the initial plan of Boston Partners was to own and manage all the hotels and resorts set to be built but the company has later agreed with FairFax that the company’s long-term strategic vision will include managing third-party properties.

FairFax director David Johns on his part said “Kuriftu is already a well established and respected brand in the hospitality industry in Ethiopia which can be expanded successfully throughout East Africa. He said, “We are encouraged by the overall positive economic prospects in Africa in general and in East Africa in particular. Our analysis has shown that tourism to the region has been constrained partly due to the relatively limited hotel and resort infrastructure, which we plan to address with our new investment in Kuriftu.”

Tadios has recently shared a pioneer diaspora business award with Zemedeneh Negatu of Ernst and Young in an event where the deal between Boston Partners and FairFax was disclosed.

Source: The Reporter.