At the ceremony that symbolized the start of the work, the Minister of Natural Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, stressed that this factory will promote the growth of the petrochemical industry and agribusiness, as well as the industrial development of the municipality of Soyo, providing more jobs direct and indirect work.
On the occasion, he congratulated the initiative of Sonangol, a state oil company, and the Angolan private business group Opaia.
The official stressed that the Executive considered it necessary to carry out reforms in Angola's hydrocarbon sector, to allow investments in prospecting, development, production and transformation of the country's oil and gas resources.
"This is how the gas law was passed, which allows the monetization of gas and attracting investors, not only for the activity of gas associated with oil, but also for the activity of gas not associated with oil", he said.
According to Diamantino Azevedo, "the efforts undertaken in this direction have substantially improved the business environment, creating favorable conditions to motivate the Opaia group and Sonangol, in October 2019, to trigger a set of actions for the implementation of this fertilizer factory".
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the chairman of the executive committee of SonaGás, Manuel Barros, said that the factory will have a daily production capacity of 3500 tons a day, making an annual total of 1.2 million tons.
Manuel Barros stressed that the work should be completed within 44 months, that is, in the first quarter of 2026, creating a total of 1500 direct and indirect jobs.
The official considered the factory strategic, justifying that it will allow the monetization of gas, maximize the country's resource for the benefit of industry and encourage the development of agriculture.
The chairman of the executive committee of SonaGás also pointed out as gains the development of the petrochemical industry and the savings in foreign income that the country spends on the purchase of fertilizers.
"We will be self-sufficient, we will be able to make available to the market what is currently consumed, around 400 thousand tons per year. What is used today - I don't know what the sources and associated costs are - will be covered by national production in kwanzas, this is an extremely important and important gain", he highlighted.
The urea to be produced is a mineral fertilizer that will be in the form of white granules with 46 percent nitrogen, a formula that confers the status of the most used fertilizer in world agriculture, as it favors the vigorous growth of crops, allowing harvests in longer cycles short, says a press release.
