Protea Hotel Lilongwe Ryalls nears completion despite forex, diesel shortages

Blantyre Hotels plc says its long-delayed Protea Hotel Lilongwe Ryalls development will open by the end of October, despite persistent foreign currency and diesel shortages that have hampered progress on the project throughout the construction period.

Speaking at the company’s 79th annual general meeting in Blantyre, board chairperson Vizenge Kumwenda told shareholders the project was approximately 90 per cent complete and had entered its finishing phase, with between $10 million and $11 million still required to complete the remaining works.

The scale of the outstanding funding requirement underscores the extent to which Malawi’s chronic foreign exchange constraints have complicated the completion of even advanced-stage capital projects, with hard currency needed for imported finishing materials and equipment remaining in persistently short supply.

“The outlook for the tourism and hospitality industry in Malawi remains cautiously optimistic, supported by the government’s renewed strategic focus on tourism as a key driver,” Kumwenda told shareholders, framing the delayed opening within a broader narrative of sectoral recovery.

The group reported a consolidated profit after tax of K5.4 billion for the year ended 31 December 2025, a result that comes despite the operational headwinds facing its flagship expansion project.

The eventual opening of the Protea Hotel Lilongwe Ryalls will add meaningful capacity to Malawi’s capital city hospitality market, at a time when the government has publicly signalled ambitions to position tourism as a more significant contributor to foreign exchange earnings and broader economic diversification, even as the sector continues to contend with the same currency and fuel supply constraints that have delayed the hotel’s own completion timeline.