The presidential order to which Lusa had access this Wednesday was published on September 11 and determines that the Minister of Finance must ensure the availability of the financial resources necessary to implement the project, resulting from a contract between Angola and the Japanese consortium Toyota Tsusho Corporation and TOA Corporation.
The Namibe Bay Integrated Development Project is funded through a 600 million dollars credit line from the Bank of Japan for International Cooperation.
According to a statement issued last January by Toyota Tshusho, the project involves the expansion of the container terminal at the port of Namibe and the rehabilitation of the Saco-Mar ore terminal.
The Japanese company believes that the project in the Namibe basin, which is expected to be completed in 2022, will "reduce Angola's dependence on oil" and "rebuild infrastructures affected by the civil war" in the country.
"This project will contribute to the creation of employment in the country, the economic revitalization of the southern region, the diversification of industries and will enhance the port to become a window for the import and export of countries of the interior", of the African continent, through the railway line, according to the same document.
Inaugurated in 1957, the port of Namibe represents one of the main ports in the country, being the largest in the southern region and the third largest in Angola.
The Saco-Mar ore terminal was built in 1967 to export iron ore mined in Cassinga, in the province of Huila, and operated for eight years. In 1973 it reached its highest export value, with 6.2 million tons.
According to its Internet portal, it currently operates as the main fuel and lubricant terminal of the state-owned oil company Sonangol in the southern region of the country and exports 300,000 tons of oil derivatives annually.
This terminal is supported by a 15-km railway line that links it to the Moçâmedes railway line.
Japan is thus once again showing interest in the port of Namibe, after having previously contributed, with funds from the Japanese state, to its rehabilitation in two phases.
In the most recent phase, in January 2016, the Japanese executive donated around 20 million dollars, continuing the efforts begun in 2007 which allowed for the financing of a rehabilitation of 875 metres of quay.
During the Portuguese colonial period, Namibe province became the main fishing port in Angola - based on the bays of Moçâmedes, the capital, and Tômbwa - and is occupied in large part by the desert, considered the oldest in the world.
