innovation – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Chilli Pickle, Brighton

Our vacations in UK are usually spent, for the most part in Brighton, where my son Ed is based – a fair amount of eating out is usually involved! So, this piece on HotelChatter caught my eye – the name too – chilli pickle happens to be brilliantly made in Zambia by Rivonia and was the subject of a previous blog post. Can’t wait to try the restaurant next time we’re in Brighton.

“The ever-burgeoning London hotel scene may have most of our attention at the moment, but we’re far from immune to the charms of Brighton, especially with the news that one of our favorite fun hotels there, myhotel Brighton, has just opened a restaurant devoted to one of our favorite foods: curry.

Not just any restaurant, either – it’s the new site for The Chilli Pickle, which won the prize for most innovative restaurant at last year’s British Curry Awards, and received two AA rosettes and a Michelin BiB Gourmand thing too. The restaurant got all its plaudits (and rave TripAdvisor reviews) in its old location in Meetings House Lane but it’s now upped sticks to the hotel, and opened its doors Monday.

It’s owned by the same team and will have the same menu as before, as well as introducing some new dishes from a recent trip to India.

Prices are really reasonable, too: vegetable dishes from £3.50, mains from £6.95 and thalis for £9.95 for lunch and from £12.95 for dinner. The one to go for? The new Mutton Laal Mans – pieces of mutton in hot red chilli gravy from Rajasthan, courtesy of their latest trip.

21
MAR

Brighton, family, food, hotels, innovation, menu, restaurants, tourism, TripAdvisor, uk

Lusaka Lab In A Container

Don’t you just love creative innovation? I do! Check this from PlusNews

A tiny laboratory capable of doing big things is what Barry Kosloff, working with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has created – a new type of high-tech, low-cost, tuberculosis (TB) lab in a shipping container. He walked IRIN/PlusNews through what it takes to build one.

“I don’t know if this is normal but it’s almost like I had a photograph of it in my head,” said Kosloff, who designed such a lab for the national reference laboratory in the capital, Lusaka. It is part of efforts by the Zambia AIDS-Related TB Project, a local NGO, to expand the country’s diagnostic capacity.

The facility is the first in Zambia to be equipped with infection controls that make it safe for staff to grow the TB cultures needed to diagnose HIV-positive patients, and to determine whether TB patients have successfully completed treatment.

London School Of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine? Now that stirs some memories in my foot!

6
FEB

entrepreneurship, infrastructure, innovation, London, Lusaka, medical

Zambezi Airlines

Zambezi Airlines, the Zambian outfit, is looking to expand, according to this piece from LusakaTimes

“Zambezi Airlines is negotiating with some countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and beyond for possible opening up of new routes next year. Commercial director Sidney Siabamundi said in an interview in Lusaka that the airline had made applications to fly to other routes and was awaiting approval from respective governments. “We are coming up with exciting programmes for our clients in the coming year. We intend to open up new routes within SADC and beyond, but we can only name the countries once the respective governments approve our applications’’.

The airline currently offers flights to Lubumbashi in Democratic Republic of Congo, Blantyre in Malawi, Harare in Zimbabwe, South Africa’s Johannesburg and Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.

Mr Siabamundi said the airline had recorded overwhelming bookings following the promotional same-day-return fare on Lusaka-Johannesburg route running from December 13 to 31. Mr Siabamundi said business executives had taken advantage of the US$99 fare to Johannesburg to conduct business and return the same day. “We have a flight going to Johannesburg leaving at 07:00 hours to arrive at 09:00 hours and return at 18:00 hours in Lusaka the same day,’’ he said. The purpose of the promotion is to encourage the business people and corporate partners to conduct business on the same day without losing out on time for other engagements.

Zambezi Airlines hopes to utilise its flights as a hub for connection and transit for those travelling in the SADC countries. The airline was founded in 2008 and has grown to be one of Africa’s leading low-cost airlines. Zambezi has a business model that allows it to offer cheap fares without compromising on service.

31
DEC

2011, Africa, airlines, entrepreneurship, innovation, tourism, travel, Zambia

Cresta Mukuni Safari Lodge

This from pr.com caught my eye – as you’d expect! Don’t know where it is to be situated but from the sound of it, somewhere in Chief Mukuni’s area. Now there’s a surprise! (There he is above).

Capital Corp Merchant Banking is pleased to announce that it has signed on for a $15.4 M project with Zambian corporation Playland Limited to create the Cresta Mukuni Safari Lodge Victoria Falls. The aim of the project is to build an internationally recognized 4-star Safari Lodge with modern facilities: amenities and conveniences which will cater for incentive groups from Europe and America with facilities that can also be used for local and regional markets in the European off-season. Apart from hotel accommodations, the project will offer other timeshare facilities that will cater to both local and foreign clientele.

The business concept of the project is strong, given the significant gap in the market for Safari and wilderness type high-end hotels in the Victoria Falls area where only 70 hotel rooms exist on the Zimbabwean side, and with limited conference facilities. In order to have a quick impact on the market and to enhance its position, Playland Limited has signed a management contract with Cresta Hospitality which is one of the biggest hospitality groups in southern Africa managing and operating 13 properties in 3 countries (Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Nigeria), to manage its property. This will provide the development with the key personnel, marketing strategies, and implementation strategy needed to insure a smooth and efficient development.

Cresta Mukuni will be twinned with the famous Cresta Mowana Safari Lodge situated in the Botswana National Park, which has won major international awards.

26
DEC

2011, accommodation, Africa, hotels, infrastructure, innovation, livingstone, tourism, victoriafalls, Zambia

Ideas

I loved this from Seth Godin – he didn’t mention Twitter or Facebook though…

Where do ideas come from?

1. Ideas don’t come from watching television
2. Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture
3. Ideas often come while reading a book
4. Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them
5. Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom
6. Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide
7. Ideas often strive to meet expectations. If people expect them to appear, they do
8. Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginner’s mind. A little awareness is a good thing
9. Ideas come in spurts, until you get frightened. Willie Nelson wrote three of his biggest hits in one week
10. Ideas come from trouble
11. Ideas come from our ego, and they do their best when they’re generous and selfless
12. Ideas come from nature
13. Sometimes ideas come from fear (usually in movies) but often they come from confidence
14. Useful ideas come from being awake, alert enough to actually notice
15. Though sometimes ideas sneak in when we’re asleep and too numb to be afraid
16. Ideas come out of the corner of the eye, or in the shower, when we’re not trying
17. Mediocre ideas enjoy copying what happens to be working right this minute
18. Bigger ideas leapfrog the mediocre ones
19. Ideas don’t need a passport, and often cross borders (of all kinds) with impunity
20. An idea must come from somewhere, because if it merely stays where it is and doesn’t join us here, it’s hidden. And hidden ideas don’t ship, have no influence, no intersection with the market. They die, alone.

28
NOV

blog, development, entrepreneurship, innovation, management, People

Intercape – Jo’burg/Livingstone

This is encouraging from the Zambian Watchdog

South Africa’s biggest intercity passenger bus services will introduce its services to Zambia at the end of October, the Watchdog understands. Intercape currently services all towns in South Africa and most cities in Southern Africa. The introduction of Intercape services from Johannesburg to Lusaka and Livingstone is likely to bring excitement to passengers who have been subjected to poor services by Zambian operators.

Hundreds of cross-border traders travel from Lusaka to South Africa everyday but there have been complaints of poor services. South Africa is one Zambia’s biggest trade partners. Among the most frequent complaints from travellers has been overloading of luggage to the extent where luggage is packed inside the bus on the seats meant for passengers, over speeding, lack of toilets on board and lack of courtesy by bus crews. Passengers have also been complaining of being dumped in some dark corners called stations when they reach Johannesburg at night.

Though slightly more expensive than the current route operators, Intercape’s safety record and condition of the coaches are excellent.

Bring it on!

17
OCT

Africa, infrastructure, innovation, livingstone, rsa, transport, Zambia

Free Delivery

The picture says it all! Enjoy your Sunday!

5
SEP

Africa, Customers, entrepreneurship, innovation, Zambia

Solar Energy

With rapidly rising electricity costs in Zambia (this year will see more than a 50% rise) this, from CNN, is the future:

“In rural communities of Africa, where more than 95 percent of homes have no access to electricity, solar energy has the power to transform lives. Globally, 1.5 billion people, one quarter of the world’s population, live without electricity, according to a United Nations report.

Those who can afford any power at all spend large proportions of their income on kerosene for lamps or travel to larger towns to charge their batteries several times a week. Burning kerosene contributes to indoor air pollution, which is estimated to kill 1.6 million people each year. Kerosene lamps also lead to fires that cause severe burns and deaths.

Solar energy saves families money as well as allowing children to study in the evenings and giving families access to information through radio and television and mobile phone chargers. Lack of access to energy is a cause of poverty, not just a result of poverty. The light from a solar-powered bulb is also between 10 and 20 times brighter than from a kerosene lamp.

Among those bringing solar power to the world’s poor is Rural Energy Foundation, a Dutch non-profit organization. It has now helped 450,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa gain access to low-cost solar power. Rural Energy Foundation runs the SolarNow program, training independent retailers and technicians in nine countries to sell low-cost solar gadgets or home systems to people without electricity.

Last month, the organization was one of the international winners of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy. Willem Nolens, director of Rural Energy Foundation, said: “Lack of access to energy, just as lack of clean drinking water, is a cause of poverty, not just a result of poverty.

“Gaining access to electricity can be really life-changing. People can increase their productivity, children can study, read books and watch television, which allows them to be connected to the world. “Whole villages can become self-sufficient once someone has a home solar system.” Rural Energy Foundation supports 250 independent local retailers in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal, Mozambique and Zambia.

2
SEP

Africa, electricity, energy, infrastructure, innovation, Zambia

Hostels Board Of Zambia

The Hostels Board Of Zambia has recently opened Livingstone Lodge (pictured above) in the city. The lodge is located on the road to Maramba just past central police, on the site of the former Busiku Guest House. Their room rate is K250,000 per room per night – about US$50 at today’s exchange rate. They might, however, not be able to maintain that rate for long, given the statement from Government below.

“Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti has announced a cut in financial support to all lodges under his ministry because ‘they have the capacity to generate their own income’. “This is the last time that you will be supported by my ministry. I have seen individuals with only one lodge and they are surviving but you have 10 lodges. I warned the Hostels Board the last time we were budgeting that I am cutting their budget because they have the capacity to generate their own income. This is a timely warning that this is the last year,” he said

Mr Mulongoti said the lodges must generate money so that Government receives dividends from them and that these should be declared at the start of the next financial year (2011). Government has spent K2.7 billion in the rehabilitation and construction of facilities at the Livingstone Lodge which comprises a conference room, deluxe executive suite and 11 executive rooms.

The second phase of the project will involve the building of a one storey building that will have 20 rooms. Mr Mulongoti said this yesterday when he commissioned the new Livingstone Lodge. The Minister was accompanied by his deputy Dr Christopher Kalila and permanent secretary Watson Ng’ambi. He said the Hostels Board should no longer depend on government for financial support. He challenged the National Hostels Board to venture into constructing a five-star hotel instead of being comfortable with lodges.

Mr Mulongoti encouraged the Hostels Board to go into partnerships with other investors. He said that since its inception in 1957, the board has had only seven hostels that were left by the colonial government, and three that have been constructed since. “I want one day, either President Rupiah Banda or myself to be able to commission a five-star hotel before we continue quarreling with our competitive sector we are in. You know we have too many vuvuzelas (critics) who are always refusing to acknowledge what we are doing. This is one of the developments,” he said.

He urged the staff and management to work hard in their lodges throughout the country in order to win consumer confidence and attract clients. “We have as a nation not approached tourism with the aggression it deserves. Investing in this sector is not easily accessed especially for Zambians hence the need for a total review of requirements and procedures for one to venture into tourism,” he said.

29
AUG

accommodation, Africa, hotels, infrastructure, innovation, livingstone, tourism, Zambia

Livingstone ‘International’ Airport

We’re happy that construction of a new terminal has started at Livingstone Airport as per the article below from Lusaka Times and have seen the evidence for ourselves. However, when the runway extension was completed at huge expense some years ago, we were promised direct flights from Europe, Asia and other African countries apart from South Africa and that has not happened. Let’s hope the new terminal isn’t another ‘white elephant’ and actually produces an increase in international flight connections, otherwise it will just be a waste of more money!

“Communications and Transport Minister Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa has said that it is governments priority to ensure that all airports in the country are operational.

Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of new international terminal building at Livingstone international airport estimated to cost about $12 million, Professor Lungwangwa said that it is for this reason that government is carrying out maintenance works in provincial airports to improve connectivity in the country.

Professor Lungwangwa noted that with massive investment witnessed in Livingstone especially in the hospitality industry the number of tourists flying into Livingstone has been on the upswing. And speaking at the same function Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe said that one does not need to doubt that the Government under the leadership of Rupiah Banda is a working government.

He said that government through its sound economic policies is attracting a lot of investors and hence need to increase airport capacity. And at the same function National Airports Corporation Limited Managing Director Robinson Masitala said that the corporation has many challenges but that it will endeavor to provide efficient services to airline operators and the traveling public.

He said that the corporation is in the process of acquiring state of the art ground handling equipment to enhance service delivery capabilities at all the four international airports in the country.”

19
AUG

Africa, airlines, infrastructure, innovation, livingstone, rsa, tourism, transport, travel, victoriafalls, Zambia

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