World Report

Rebuilt and upgraded roads, railways and ports are increasing Angolan productivity and stimulating interest among foreign companies

The leading Angolan port facility, Port Lobito has managed to increase its production capacity by 70 percent in the last two years.

A flagship company in Angolan shipping, Secil Maritima has been operating the terminals at Lobito, Luanda and Namibe ports since 2002.

nfrastructure and transport reconstruction is a top priority for the Prime Minister dos Santos’ administration. Firstly, infrastructure links are crucial for reuniting the country and its people, and for improving the delivery of government services. Secondly, the free movement of people and goods throughout the country is a prerequisite for full economic recovery. Finally, improved communication links with landlocked neighbours such as Zambia, as well as with interior regions of DR Congo, will boost trade relations and allow these countries to get their goods to outside markets.

Challenges are two-fold. Not only must Angola repair the damage wrought to transportation links during the war, but it must also carry out extensive upgrading on many of the existing roads and railways that were constructed during the colonial period and have seen no major renovations in over thirty years. Minister of Trans-port André Luis Brandão elaborates, “Infrastructures inherited from colonial times have been a problem for us. Of course we cannot think of re-establishing facilities that date back a hundred years or more, we have to work to implement a modern network.”

More than £56 million will be invested to modernise the commercial ports of Luanda, Lobito and Namibe, and government estimates for the total cost of reconstructing the nation’s roads, railways, bridges and airports, which it hopes to complete before 2010, is a whopping £2.5 billion. General Higino Carneiro, Minister of Public Works, says, “Roads are a priority, and especially those that will link the capital to other provincial cities. They widen our social support because from these roads we are able to reach the secondary and tertiary roads, and from there the villages and municipalities.”

General Higino Carneiro Minister of Public Works

“Roads are a priority, especially those that link the capital to the provinces ”

José Carlos Gomes General Manager of Port Lobito

“We have completed all our short-term upgrading projects”

Maria Amélia M. A. Rita General Manager of Secil Maritima

“The economy has been growing in the last two years”

Hence, Angola is now a country under construction. Last year, various stretches of the historic Benguela railway, which runs east from the Port of Lobito and which was once a vital copper trade route for Zambia, were reinstated; work began on 3,500 miles of main roads and a number of bridges throughout the country were either repaired or rebuilt. Financial assistance has come from the EU, the World Bank and various individual countries. Sweden in particular has been actively involved, providing the funding for fourteen bridges, which have proven crucial in the resettlement of Angolans displaced during the war. India has signed an agreement to supply railway equipment that includes 39 carriages, and the modernisation of a 118-mile rail corridor linking Luanda to Dondo is being carried out thanks to £50 million in Chinese financing. The British NGO Halo Trust has played a key role, providing much of the demining that made the work possible.

Progress has also been made in revitalising the Port of Lobito. The country’s most modern, Port Lobito has managed to increase its production capacity by 70 percent in the last two years. It currently handles 800,000 tons of mixed cargo and more than 15,000 containers per year. General Manager José Carlos Gomes says that efforts to upgrade facilities are ongoing. “We have completed all our short-term projects and are now dealing with medium-term projects, as well as some of the long-term ones,” he comments, pointing out the completion of the port’s illumination in December of last year, which now permits night time as well as daytime loading.

Secil Maritima operates the terminals at Lobito, Luanda and Namibe ports. A flagship in Angolan shipping, the company has increased its shipping activities since the signing of the country’s peace treaty in 2002, and is now a leader in freight forwarding. As such, it is set to benefit considerably once railway and transport links in the country are restored to full capacity and exports resume. General Manager of Secil Maritima Maria Amélia M. A. Rita says, “Angola was previously a major exporter of coffee, sisal, cotton and tobacco. The economy has been developing over the last two years, and we think that in the near future we will have some positive signs.” The company is also in the process of diversifying its activities to include passenger and tourism services to the province of Cabinda.