Mota Engil eyes revival of hotel project along Lake Malawi

A Portuguese based company, Mota Engil officials are expected to arrive in Malawi next week to hold talks with Malawian President Peter Mutharika over the abandoned $50 million project in the lakeshore district of Mangochi.

Government entered into an agreement with the multinational in Public Private Partnership (PPP) which could have completely transformed area which is touted as the most beautiful part of the whole Lake Malawi.

The company was supposed to construct a five-star hotel and a golf course but the project was abandoned after disagreements with the community on the land.

According to a report by African Press Agency (Apa), Mota-Engil Malawi Public Relations Officer, Thomas Chafunya confirmed on Thursday that President Mutharika has initiated contact and dialogue with the investor in order to find a lasting solution to the project.

“The government has been meeting the communities to tell them the importance of the project to the area as well as the nation,” he said as quoted by APA.

Chafunya said there is hope that after the discussion with the head of state, the company will reverse the decision and start the construction.

Mota Engil started operating in Malawi in 1990 through its Engineering and Construction area and during the early years of its operations in the Malawian market the Groups interventions were mainly centred on highway infrastructures, especially work involving the construction and rehabilitation of the country’s highway network.

The company is recognized for its work in projects like Nsanje World Inland Port, the Nsanje-Bangula Road, Kayelekera Uranium Mine and the Nacala Railway Corridor construction. Recently the government also gave the company a concession to run the Malawi Lake Service which has seen it introducing a passenger ship.