Marriot Group, one of America’s largest chain of hotels will inspect its US$55m Kigali Marriott hotel project next week.

According to Solomon Adede, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Head of Finance of Kigali Marriott, the inspection is part of a ceremony to mark the completion of the last phase of the construction.

"This will be the first Marriott hotel to be built in Eastern and Central Africa,” said Adede.

The six star hotel is scheduled to be fully operational by the second half of 2012.

"This is Marriot Group’s largest investment in East and Central Africa,” he said.

"What I can say is that Kigali is leading in bringing Marriott and we hope the country will be a serious business destination for Marriott,” said William Z.W. Liang, the General Manager of Kigali Marriott.

Initially called New Century Hotel, Kigali Marriott hotel is owned by a consortium of Hong Kong, China and local investors. The hotel is however managed by America’s Marriot Group.

The Hong Kong-China investors hold 75 percent of the project while local investors own 25 percent.

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