"Right now, we have enough salt to supply the country, because we have stock at the national level, so if there is stock, there is no need to import salt," he said, speaking to Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA).
With regard to numbers, the official underlined that in this semester 90 thousand tonnes of salt were produced in Benguela alone, with forecasts of reaching around 170 thousand tonnes in this province by the end of the year.
"In this semester, Benguela alone is already around 90 thousand tons, in the first semester. If the weather permits, now in October we don't have heavy rains, we expect Benguela to reach 160/170 thousand tons this year, just province of Benguela", he pointed out.
The president of Aprosal also indicated that for many years they were dependent on imports, but that there has now been a reduction. "What does salt bring to the national economy? First thing, sovereignty. For years and years we were dependent on imports, today there is a decrease in this import that has to be leveled to zero so that then national producers can give the other leap," he added, quoted by RNA.
The official also considered that if they increased salt production, they were already looking at economic diversification, stressing that other economic sectors "anchored" to salt would also develop. "If we increase salt production, then we are already looking at diversification, there are other sectors of the entire economy that are anchored to salt that will grow. The transport sector is one of the sectors that benefits the most from salt production because the great consumer center is Luanda," said Totas Garrido, quoted by RNA.
