The opening ceremony was witnessed by the Ministers of Energy and Water and Industry and Commerce, João Baptista Borges and Victor Fernandes, respectively. According to a statement from the Ministry of Energy and Water, which VerAngola had access to, "the ceremony was also witnessed by the deputy governor for the Technical Area of Bengo, Edson Cruz, on behalf of the governor of the province, by the secretary of State for Industry, PCA of the National Electricity Distribution Company (ENDE), directors of companies in the sector, heads of INOTEC and MINEA".
The manufacturing unit, an initiative of the company INOTEC, provided the creation of more than 20 jobs. "The aforementioned production unit, which employs 28 workers, marks the beginning of a commitment to the development of the industrial hub, which will allow the creation of countless jobs in order to reinforce the internal production capacity", reads the note.
In a first phase, advances the statement, the factory will produce 700 units daily "and, annually, about 184,800".
After cutting the ribbon, the officials took a guided tour of the facilities, having received clarifications about the production process from the counters.
On the occasion, the Minister of Energy and Water said that the country needs 250,000 electricity meters per year to respond to the approximately 250,000 new connections to be made annually in the country. Thus, he stressed that "the sector has a great challenge ahead of it, which involves the electrification of the country, with around 250,000 new connections to be made, annually, throughout the national territory and each of these connections needs meters", says the statement from the guardianship.
He also highlighted the fact that this unit is the third meter assembly plant in the country, having expressed "satisfaction with the fact that the private sector hears the message of making investments in a crucial area, such as electricity metering".
He also pointed out that the great advantage of this unit "is not only supplying meters but also being able to lend an after-sales service, that of repairing meters".
The minister also considered that the creation of jobs for young national technicians is another "enormous advantage", having also encouraged the emergence of more projects of this kind that can be implemented in other parts of the country.
"He stressed that the challenge is to invest in other areas of electrical material production, such as low voltage, medium and high voltage towers, thus creating a local industry that will, in fact, support this major investment that the Executive is implementing for the electrification of the country", reads the communiqué.
Victor Fernandes took the opportunity to highlight the work being carried out by the Ministry of Energy and Water to ensure that energy connections are carried out without losses, adding that with the opening of this new factory unit the intended self-sufficiency has not yet been reached, but are on the right track, since this type of product is usually imported and with its production in the country, imports will decrease.
It should also be mentioned that during the inauguration, the government officials laid the first stone for the second production unit, with an area of 3200 square meters, "which will be used to reinforce the production capacity for 2000 meters per day, with a production capacity of 500,000 meters per year and also for the expansion of the segment of other products", adds the statement.
