Zanzibar on Tuesday announced plans to build sub-Saharan Africa’s tallest skyscraper, with the US$1.3 billion bill exceeding the archipelago’s annual budget by more than 60 percent.
The 70-story Zanzibar Domino Commercial Tower is to be developed on the west coast, 15km from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Stone Town.
The development project would involve the creation of an artificial island, along with a marina for yachts and cruise ships.
At more than 3 trillion Tanzanian shillings, the total outlay would surpass the semiautonomous archipelago’s budget for fiscal year 2021-2022 by more than 60 percent.
Zanzibar Minister of Labor, Economy and Investment Mudrik Ramadhan Soraga told reporters that the project would bolster the “government’s efforts in inviting more local and foreign investors to the isles.”
ICONIC DESIGN
The finished project would offer 560 apartments, luxury hotels, resorts, a golf course and a wedding chapel, the New York and Dubai-based design firm xCassia, Tanzania’s AICL Group and Scotland’s Crowland Management said in a statement.
VISIONARY INVESTOR
“[The development was] first sketched in Paris in 2009, after my late father, my two sons and I played a round of dominos,” design firm founder Jean-Paul Cassia said in the statement. “I dreamed of building this project for more than a decade.”
“It had all of the bearings of an icon that anyone could remember, Cassia said.
“All it lacked was the right visionary investor and site to make it come true,” he added.
Once finished, the skyscraper would be Africa’s second-tallest building, after Egypt’s 80-story Iconic Tower, which is to be completed next year.
The continent’s tallest building in use is the 55-story Leonardo in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Famed for its turquoise waters and spice plantations, Zanzibar relies heavily on tourism.
The archipelago sustained a tremendous hit from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week. Marcos would be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China. “I expect our discussions to focus on security and defense, of course, but also
POINTING FINGERS: The two countries have accused each other of firing first, with Bangkok accusing Phnom Penh of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai yesterday warned that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people “could develop into war,” as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis yesterday. A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported that one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and
‘OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE’: Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen are to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss EU-China relations and geopolitical challenges Top leaders from China and the EU are to hold a summit in Beijing this week, as the major economic powers seek to smooth over disputes ranging from trade to the Ukraine conflict. Beijing and Brussels have been gearing up to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, but a suite of squabbles over state subsidies, market access and wartime sanctions have dampened the festivities. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would visit on Thursday. The statement came after the EU
RSS