Cabinet Allows Expansion Of Bomas Into Africa's Biggest Convention Centre [FEATURES]

The Cabinet on Tuesday, August 8 approved plans to expand the Bomas of Kenya in Lang'ata, Nairobi into an ultra-modern facility touted to be the biggest convention centre in Africa.

The features of the new facility were captured in a despatch shared by State House Spokesperson, Hussein Mohamed, hours after President William Ruto chaired a Cabinet meeting at the Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri County.

Dubbed the Bomas International Convention Centre (BICC), the convention will feature a conference centre, presidential pavilion and at least five hotels.

The expansion of the current Bomas of Kenya facility was for the purpose of growing Kenya to being a preferred destination for global meetings, conferences and exhibitions.

Inside the amphitheatre at the Bomas of Kenya. /PHOTO.BOMAS OF KENYA

"To position Kenya as the destination of choice for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism, and to cement her place as a diplomatic and commercial hub, Cabinet approved the establishment of the Bomas International Convention Centre (BICC).

"This State initiative, fifty years after the groundbreaking of Kenya's first international convention centre (KICC), is expected to further the growth of conference tourism, hospitality, and event and aviation industries as set out in the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)," read the despatch in part.

The approval sets the stage for the construction of the facility which will sit on 82 acres at the current Bomas of Kenya grounds.

The Ministry of Tourism previously announced plans to expand Bomas into a 15,000-capacity exhibition space featuring a 10,000-delegate capacity conference centre, five luxurious hotels with a total capacity of 2,000 beds, presidential pavilions, VIP pavilions, fully furnished apartments, coffee shops and business centres among others.

According to a past report by The Standard, the hotels will range from 2-star to 7-star and will cater for all categories of exhibitors and conference tourists, with Kenya revealed to be using South Africa's Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and the World Travel Market Centre in London, United Kingdom (UK) as benchmarks.

The Bomas centre will be strategically placed, 11 kilometres from the city centre and just a stone's throw away from Nairobi National Park.

Former Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala on October 28, 2021, announced plans to transform the Bomas of Kenya into an ultra-modern facility through an infrastructural improvement programme that will transform the facility into a modern Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE).

"We are in talks with the National Treasury with a view to finding ways of supporting Bomas of Kenya to become a modern MICE facility to boost cultural and business tourism," he said while Bomas marked its 50th anniversary.

Bomas of Kenya was started by the Government of Kenya in 1971 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Tourism Finance Corporation (TFC), a company established to Preserve, Maintain and Promote the Rich Diverse cultural values of various ethnic groups of Kenya and to act as a tourist attraction centre.

It has proudly welcomed over 10 million visitors and its amphitheatre, termed one of the largest auditoriums in Africa with a 2,000 maximum capacity, has been a source of nationwide attention during the general elections, serving as the nation's vote-tallying centre for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Ongoing verification process at the Bomas of Kenya. /MARTIN WACHIRA.TWITTER