The aforementioned project will be implemented in the country within a six-year time frame, with a focus on the Lobito Corridor, according to the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication in a statement, to which VerAngola had access.
"This is a project valued at 300 million dollars, resulting from financing from the World Bank. The project will be implemented in six years throughout the country, focusing on the Lobito Corridor", the note reads.
Speaking at the opening of the project's launch event, the Secretary of State for Public Investment, Ivan Marques dos Santos, reiterated the Government's commitment, "which is committed to increasing production in the non-oil sector, in order to guarantee the balance and sustainability of its economy".
Quoted in the statement, the secretary said that "this commitment involves returning the economy to the private sector, with the Government responsible for creating more favorable conditions for businesspeople to be able to develop their businesses".
Based on the acceleration of sustainable and geographically balanced economic diversification, where the main actor is the private sector, the project has three objectives.
The first objective, explained Ivan Marques dos Santos, is to "improve the environment" for commerce.
"The first is the improvement of the regulatory and institutional environment for trade, registration and growth of companies and financial services, especially for companies owned or managed by women. To achieve this objective, the equivalent in kwanzas of 40 million dollars," he said.
The second objective involves attracting investments. "The second objective is to catalyze public and private investments, to structure and implement public-private partnerships, for example, in productive infrastructures, such as industrial development hubs and logistics platforms, with particular emphasis on the Lobito Corridor. To achieve this objective, 130 million dollars will be invested", continued the Secretary of State.
Finally, "the third objective is to improve access to financing and the capabilities of companies, here 115 million dollars will be invested and there is also a project management and training component that counts on 15 million dollars", he pointed out.
According to Ivan Marques dos Santos, "this process, among others, is expected to reduce the release or customs clearance time of goods by 20 percent, the use of automation tools for international trade, and is expected to impact this process, directly, 12 thousand private companies, three productive infrastructures awarded and 250 loans facilitated by the project, of which 66 should refer to micro, small and medium-sized companies controlled by women".
In addition to "Diversifica Mais", the Source Platform was also presented at the event, which, according to the statement, is "a tool that puts major Angolan infrastructures on the world map".
Regarding this platform, the Secretary of State explained that its adoption "stems from the need to materialize Law no. 11/19, of 14 May, the law on public-private partnerships, conducive to more efficient management of the project portfolio of PPP, as well as guaranteeing through it the development of infrastructure necessary for Angola's economic and social growth".
