Groundbreaking celebration

This past January 10, we held the Groundbreaking ceremony of Reliance Resorts and Spa ltd in Michamvi Kae and we had His Excellency Dr Yakaya Mrisho Kikwete as guest of honor. For reasons of protocol and time I was not able to finish my speech, but this is what I wanted to have said.

Speech

My wife and I are Spanish and when we return to Spain on vacation, and the question we are usually asked is …

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What is it like to invest in Zanzibar?

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We won't lie to you. We can't say it was all plain sailing, we had our share of problems, like any company anywhere in the world. In this case, the difference is ZIPA. For us, ZIPA has been a reference point to turn to when we encountered a blockage. Without ZIPA, we would not be able to lay this first stone in the hotel today. That is why We especially want to thank Mr. Shariff Ali Shariff and Madam Shida Kombo.

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And what is really like investing in Zanzibar, under my personal point of view?

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Most investors/Project managers or stakeholders in general think that the investment and our obligation is only towards the construction of the hotel, in this case. And the truth is that when you build a hotel with these characteristics you are affecting the surrounding ecosystem. It is impossible to isolate yourself and think that you are not going to affect the communities around you nor that those same communities are not going to affect what happens in your hotel.

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This project is a 5-star deluxe hotel, with 342 rooms, all-inclusive, families welcome with all the needed facilities.

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When we started to think about the future of the hotel, we realized…

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That this hotel will employ about 800 people directly. Where would those 800 people come from? The Michamvi community is 1,200 people. My wife and I come from a very touristy town on the coast of Catalonia, Spain, a place called Tarragona, very similar to Zanzibar and we understand the impact of tourism on the local community life.

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How would the arrival of so many new people affect the community? How can we reduce the impact?

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What if we talk to the community and find a formula to train people who want to get a job? Two years later we have trained nearly 400 people from the communities of Michamvi, Uroa, Chwaka, Bwejuu, etc. Training them is not directly giving them a job. It is preparing them so that they can find work in the future, training not only in technical and specific knowledge, but also in attitudes and behaviors that will help them in the future. Today, more than half of those students have found jobs. And all this, with professors from Maruhubi University, local professors, great professionals. Not everything from outside is always better.

A few days ago, I had a conversation with the Regional Commissioner, the Honorable Ayoub. I told him what I had read on WhatsApp and heard from stakeholders on the island. Their complaints about safety, for example. And I told him that this insecurity comes mainly from social inequality, lack of opportunities. As investors, to lock ourselves in our investment, forget about the outside world and our social responsibility it is not possible. If you responsibly train and generate opportunities, that insecurity tends to be minimized.

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We, directly, of the 42 employees at this point, 36 belong to the Michamvi Kae community. We have treated them with respect and trust, we offer them a fair salary and fair working conditions. And I couldn't be happier with the results. They have returned that respect with hard work and the same respect. When I hear that the employee attribution rate on the island is 40%, I don't quite understand it. No employee has left the company, everyone is committed to it. An employee committed to the company is priceless.

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Why are tourist coming to Zanzibar?

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The main reason tourists come to Zanzibar are these white sand beaches, nature, and the cultural heritage of the island. And both things had to be protected and respected.

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How do we respect the traditions?

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I remember sitting with Mr Walid Fikirini, for whom I have enormous love and respect. Now I can call him my BABU. He, along with Thabiti Kimu, my right-hand man at the hotel, helped us organize, together with the Michamvi Kae community, a monthly forum where we could all sit together and discuss our needs. The problems of the Michamvi community became our problems and the problems of the hotel became their problems. Together, in these forums, we found a way to understand and complement each other, to grow together. All the inhabitants of Michamvi are represented: young people, the elderly, women, fishermen, etc. Everyone has a voice and vote, and everything is discussed. This would not have been possible without the support of people like the Sheka of Michamvi, Mr Vuai Iddi Mlenge, Mr Machano Haji Ame, Mwalimu Khamis Ali Mvuma, Mzee Haji Mshezi Haji, etc., who understood that there is strength in numbers.

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How do we respect the sand beaches and nature?

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When my colleague Lucas Oteyza arrived, in 2015, half of this hotel was in a flood zone with the tides. The simple solution was to build a concrete wall. A solution that would have led to the destruction of the beach in the medium and long term, as has happened in other parts of the island. Lucas, my predecessor, refused. Instead, we invest in a natural form of beach protection. More expensive, yes, and much more responsible for the environment. 5 years and 1M USD later, the beach is growing naturally, and the hotel is not flooding. As guests in this country, this is our responsibility. Create a better world and society for all.

For these and many other reasons, I honestly believe that when this hotel is finished it will be one of the best on the island. Both for its design, the taste and love with which it is made and for all the decisions that have been made to integrate the hotel into the ecosystem in which it is located. The owners will be as proud of this hotel as each of the inhabitants of Michamvi. This hotel will have a little of each of them inside.