KIA; the first international airport to be privatized in Africa

The airport became the first international airport to be privatized in Africa in 1998 and is now operated by Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (KADCO), a consortium comprised of UK-based management, engineering and development Company Mott Mc Donald International, a South African Infrastructure Fund, the Government Tanzania and Inter Consult Ltd., a Tanzanian engineering firm Also, KADCO needed to look at the number of people required and we had to reduce it, as the airport was over-employed for the size of the operations. We suddenly discovered there were not enough operations and revenues to be able to run the airport in the way we had expected, by engaging expatriates to manage the airport. They soon found them very expensive and needed to make a change. So, in the year 2000 when the expatriate management contracts ended, did not renew them and we put in place Tanzanian management and started reducing operation costs. For the first three to four year of operation, the company went through massive losses. From 2000, started to recover and, by the end of 2004, managed to turn the company around. In 2005, made a small profit and in 2006 they are going to make an even better profit. So, in terms of operations and personnel, this was accomplished. It is true that the expected major investments did do not take place, but they sought strategically, in order to make a real change, to talk to other investors. So KADCO (Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company) managed to attract investment and to build a hotel which is operational, the Kilimanjaro Hotel. The airport is strategically situated between two regions of Kilimanjaro and Arusha in northern Tanzania. Arusha and Kilimanjaro are ideal regions for tourism, investment opportunities and business activities due to their economic potentialities and unique tourist attractions. The regions are popularly known as East Africa’s best tourist destinations or commonly known as the northern tourism circuit with a combined population over three million people.