According to a statement, the port is testing the development of a Maritime Single Window (MSW) system to allow the electronic submission, through a single online portal, of all the information required by government agencies. when a ship calls at port.
The experience is part of the "Single Window for Trade Facilitation (SWiFT)" project by IMO-Singapore and will serve as a "model for more ports in Africa in the future", revealed the IMO.
"The Single Maritime Window at the port of Lobito is, for the time being, in its initial stages of development. The prototypes are being developed" and will only be able to start operating after training human resources, he added.
An IMO delegation visited the site at the end of January and also the port of Luanda, having held meetings in the capital with representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Transport, Industry and Commerce and the National Maritime Agency.
The delegation heard from those responsible the "determination to accelerate the project to ensure its completion on time", in July 2023.
The SWiFT project was established to support medium-sized ports in order to meet the requirements of the Facilitation Convention (FAL), an initiative that aims to accelerate the digitization of maritime navigation, and which will come into operation next year.
As of the 1st of January, ports all over the world will have to be prepared for the exchange of data through a "Single Window", where they will concentrate information on the arrival, stay and departure of ships.
The port of Lobito is located in the province of Benguela, south of Luanda, on the Atlantic coast.
In January, the transport ministers of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo) and Zambia signed an agreement for the creation of the Lobito Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency, with the aim of improving rail freight transport.
The Lobito corridor extends from the port of Lobito, bathed by the Atlantic, and crosses Angola from west to east, passing through the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico, covering the mining areas of the Congolese province of Catanga and Copperbelt, from Zambia.
The Lobito corridor presents a strategic alternative route to the Zambian and DRC export markets and offers the shortest route between the main mining regions of these two countries to the sea.
