Emaar comes to Kenya with The Address in tow

EMAAR COMES TO KENYA WITH GOLF COURSE DEVELOPMENT

The greater Mara area is now set to get its first major golf development, 18 hole course and resort, after Emaar Properties of Dubai has announced their plans for entering the Kenyan market.

Alongside the just ended hotel investment conference in Nairobi the news were broken, and it appears that ‘The Address’ hotels group, already managing a number of top rated hotels and resorts in the UAE, will be taking on the management. The arrival of another investor of global ranking, and of ‘The Address’ is good news for Kenya, in terms of publicity and also for the investment overall, which is bound to create a sizeable number of employment opportunities.

Located at the fringes of the greater Masai Mara Conservation area, the project now knows as ‘Enkeresi Mara’ will have to meet the demands for a comprehensive environmental and social impact assessment, as in particular the quantities of water needed to keep a golf course green might put strains on the water sources near the property, and the fertilizers required to keep the greens green and the fairways bright too is of concern to some, who have immediately raised their concerns with this correspondent when learning about the new development. ‘Putting courses up in the highlands where there is water, ok, the same for the coastal area even though there is already a deficit in water supply versus consumption. So these people will have to demonstrate how that area’s water table can support the use of water, how streams and rivers will not dry up as s result. Generally yes, it is good news for Kenya tourism after a series of not so good news, but I just counsel caution and hope the EIA will provide answers’ said a regular source from Nairobi overnight in a mail after bouncing off the question.

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