Italian billionaire plans Malindi resort
Some relatives and friends of Italian billionaire Flavio Briatore on holiday in Malindi. Photo/DANIEL NYASSY
Malindi could soon be the proud home of a billionaires resort in Africa, if plans by Italian billionaire, Flavio Briatore, go as planned. Mr Briatore has already launched the Sh500 billion resort in the up market area of Casuarina, Malindi, where the former Jambo Village beach Hotel stood many years ago.
In an interview with local press, Mr Briatore unveiled his future plans for Kenya which he described as a “wonderful investment place now.” “We have already prepared the beach where the resort will be built and people can go there to relax. Lion in the Sun has pitched tents there and employed 20 workers,” he said.
Mr Briatore who looked relaxed and jovial when he distributed goats and foodstuff worth about Sh1 million to poor people at his Lion in the Sun exclusive residence, said construction of the resort will begin in five to six months.
“We want the resort to be the best not only in Kenya but in Africa. It will be built using the latest state-of-the art technology and will have all a person desires in luxury,” he said.
The architectural design of the resort will be done by world-famous Italian architecture Mr Marma Fossa, said Mr Briatore. “The resort, which will be an entire village, will have 20 to 25 apartments and meet internationally accepted environmental standards,” he added.
Mr Briatore had praise for Kenya: “Malindi has quite improved. It’s much cleaner and the police are now better workers. There is security all around and I and my friends feel secure. This is what guests need; to feel secure wherever they go,” he said.
Better place
He added that the country is a better place to invest in now and promised to put up several investments. Earlier information indicated that the resort will have a state-of-the-art Spa, disco and luxurious facilities exclusively for the who-is-who in the world – celebrities ranging from sports, entertainment, actors, and models – who rarely tour Africa. Mr Briatore owns a similar resort in Sardinia Island near Italy. The resort is frequented by billionaires of the world.
