Fashola commissions N30b InterContinental Hotel in Lagos

A new hospitality investment from the global InterContinental Hotel Group, IHG, was on Sunday officially unveiled in Lagos by Governor Babatunde Fashola.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, the Governor said the landmark 23-stoey hotel, the tallest in West Africa, is an indication that the Nigerian economy is growing daily, even as
there is no corresponding employment being created.
According to him, “the new sector is the tourism sector. This is the only virgin sector in the country, and it will help address the
challenges of unemployment in the country.”
He said the new hotel has created new 650 direct jobs in the state, adding that with the construction of more hotels and hospitality
outfits, more direct jobs would be created with corresponding indirect jobs.
The new hotel, owned by the Milan Group, according to the chairman of the group, Ramesh Valechha is expected to change the landscape of Lagos and boost the hospitality
industry in the state. While noting that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), for the project was signed on March 31, 2004, he said it took two years to complete the design work, before the conceptualisation of the project began.
Valechha lauded the support of the Lagos State Government, Skye Bank and Wema Bank, which ensured the InterContinental Lagos project, which is IHG’s first hotel in West Africa became a reality.
The General Manager of InterContinental Lagos, Didier Coeln, said the decision to launch the hotel brand in Nigeria and specifically Lagos was a testament to Nigeria’s significant economic growth.