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Inside Shs147b NAM convention centre
The convention centre at Speke Resort Munyonyo where the G-77 summit was held.
What you need to know:
- The 3,800-seater convention centre at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort was completed in time for the summits.
Hosting the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the G77+ China summits came with a lot of expectations.
The pressure, specifically, for the government, to pull them off effortlessly, was high.
Years prior to the events, a plan was hitched to build a state-of-art facility to host the visitors after the government realised other facilities in the country were not up to standard.
With time running out fast, the government partnered with businessman Sudhir Ruparelia to build a convention centre valued at Shs147 billion.
The government through Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) signed joint venture and shareholder agreements with Mr Ruparelia to build the facility in August 2022.
President Museveni leaves the convention centre where the Group of 77(G-77) + China summit was held at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala on January 22, 2024. Photo/Abubaker Lubowa
The 3,800-seater convention centre at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort was completed in time for the summits.
The centre has 12-high end conference rooms, some of which were utilised during breakaway sessions at the summits.
The lights, tiles, and carpets, add a touch of sophistication to the centre. A distinct aroma of glue, wood, and paint gives away the sense that the centre is a new one.
Outside the centre is a breath-taking view of Lake victoria.
It was interesting seeing some of the visitors take time away from their hectic schedules to take pictures of the lake while others utilised the two water fountains strategically positioned outside the convention centre as their background.
One of the booths where translators were stationed in the convention centre in Munyonyo.
With the two summits now out of the way, the convention centre will continue to host other local and international related conferences, especially those registering huge numbers.
Other facilities in the region
The other similar facility in the region is the Kigali Convention Centre, a conference venue facility located in Kigali, Rwanda.
The facility has four main components: a 5-star hotel (Radisson Blu Hotel Kigali) with 292 rooms on six floors; a 2,600-seating capacity conference centre; an IT. office park with a net floor area of 32,200 square metres and a museum on the bottom floor of the IT park.
The owner and developer of the facility is a Rwandan company called Ultimate Concepts Limited with multiple stakeholders, including the government through Prime Holdings, Rwanda Social Security Board and Rwanda Investment Group.
