On the occasion, the holder of the transport portfolio highlighted that the future airport – under construction since 2022 and whose construction is physically completed in the order of 32 percent – is considered essential to ensure the fulfillment of duties with UNESCO as cultural heritage.
"This way it will attract tourists to the city of Mbanza Congo and it lacks an infrastructure with the capacity to receive 250,000 passengers per year", said the official, quoted by Angop.
Therefore, the minister considered that there was a need to promote a complementary infrastructure in order to have a city with a tourist destination for Angola in the field of culture. The official, cited by Angop, also mentioned the preparation of a master plan with the provincial government aimed at ensuring the preservation of infrastructure, in order to prevent acts of vandalism.
In the ordinary session, which was chaired by the Vice-President of the Republic, Esperança da Costa, several matters were analyzed, including the Mbanza Kongo Management Plan 2024-2028, the level of execution of works on the new Mbanza Kongo Airport, between others.
It should be noted that the future airport will have domestic and international connections, the construction of which is being carried out on 12,100 square meters and the control tower is 35.64 meters high. Valued at around 89.9 billion kwanzas, the airport infrastructure is called 'Nimi a Lukeni' and among the various features, the capacity to receive flights from Boeing 777-300ER type aircraft stands out.
According to a statement from the Vice-Presidency, to which VerAngola had access, the Mbanza Kongo Management Plan 2024-2028 proposes to "turn this municipality in the province of Zaire into a research hub and tourist attraction of national, regional and International".
This plan, adds the note, "envisages the organization of scientific meetings with researchers from different parts of the world to promote the exchange of knowledge, define strategies for disseminating the history of the Kingdom of Kongo and its diaspora", as well as "encouraging young people in learning ancestral techniques in the field of arts and gastronomy for the benefit of local communities, as part of the process of conservation, protection and enhancement of material and intangible heritage".
"The plan encompasses the Mbanza Kongo Strategic Tourism Management Plan, which proposes, among other objectives, to diversify the offer of tourist entertainment, develop the territory of Mbanza Kongo, publicize the municipality's cultural heritage, guide visits to tourist attractions of the locality, increase the supply of tourist accommodation infrastructure by more than 15 percent, expand the restaurant network by 20 percent and complementary services by up to 15 percent, train and qualify professionals in the tourism sector", reads the note.
Still in this area, at the meeting, the commission learned that the tangible and intangible heritage of Mbanza Kongo is well preserved. However, "some areas of the city continue to be considered as risk zones, where there are bans on construction and relocation of the population".
