"Once concluded, within three years, this project will provide Namibe with the only Porto Mineiro in the south of Angola, with the capacity to transport and export iron ore from the Kassinga region, in Huíla, and from the Cuchi steel project, in Cuando-Cubango", said the governor, who was speaking at the opening of the 14th advisory council of the Ministry of Transport.
In his speech - made available in full on the provincial government's Facebook -, he pointed out that the project will also allow the Commercial Port to "be the main operator in the region, with the capacity to transfer cargo between ships of different drafts and a new terminal for containers, with the appropriate equipment to improve the efficiency of the port operation and increase competitiveness".
He also considered that the infrastructure will allow the cargo that "currently is operated from Walvis Bay, in Namibia" to access the country directly, "in addition to being a privileged gateway for our exports and those of neighboring countries without straight to the sea".
Archer Mangueira stressed that this will open up "a horizon particularly rich in investment and employment opportunities, through the development of the circular economy, the blue economy, increased exports and the promotion of tourism". However, he added that "these opportunities will only materialize if all parties involved truly invest in the development of the province's business and economy" and, therefore, he says there is "the greatest expectation that priority will be given to subcontracting local companies , and that they will know how to respond to the challenges".
"We are also confident in the recruitment and training of our young people, to fill the many hundreds of direct jobs that will be created, in professions that include the management of port operations, logistics, the processing of foreign trade and the operation of equipment, such as container cranes, operation ships and radars, among others", he said.
The governor also stressed that "once in full operation" and the hundreds of new jobs are consolidated, these new infrastructures "will generate even more business opportunities, investments and the creation of qualified jobs, for the young people who now attend the University Namibe and secondary education in schools in our five municipalities".
He also left an appeal to the National Maritime Agency to establish "certification mechanisms for these professionals" and that it is also possible to implement the "internationally required maritime codes to place our country on the white list of the International Maritime Organization".
He also said that he was sure that "all the positive externalities of a project of this size and importance will be fully exploited, whose investment, estimated at 600 million dollars, is 85 percent financed by the Bank of Japan for International and Cooperation in 15 percent by the Southern African Development Bank".
In his speech, the governor also asked for support to the sector for the "acquisition of public transport buses", since the "fleet of public transport, both between the municipalities and within the municipalities, is clearly insufficient, confronting the Namibian with many difficulties to travel between their places of residence and places of work or study", adding that there is also a need to increase the frequencies of flights between the capital and Namibe.
