The interest was expressed by a delegation of businesspeople from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who held a meeting, this Monday, in Luanda, with the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, António Francisco de Assis.
In the delegation's sights, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, to which VerAngola had access, are the provinces of Malanje, Bié, Cuando Cubango and Lundas.
"The delegation, which is headed by a Dubai sultan, was interested in investing in the provinces of Malanje, Bié, Cuando Cubango and Lundas, needing 5000 hectares for rice production and 500 hectares for avocado production", reads the note.
"Investors intend to invest around 30 million dollars, which could generate approximately 300 direct jobs and around 1000 indirect jobs", adds the statement.
According to investors, in the "project maturity phase" they could reach between 40 and 50 million dollars.
On the occasion, the holder of the Agriculture and Forestry portfolio assured investors of "institutional support from the Government" in order to materialize these projects, which essentially target three sectors: the private sector, the government and agriculture family with local farmers.
Quoted in the note, António Francisco de Assis said they were "making every effort" to relaunch rice production in the country. "We are making every effort to relaunch rice production in the country and we are already starting to see good signs, but it is still not enough, we need more and more investors like your company", he stated.
Sultan Aljaheri, also CEO of E20 Investment in Dubai, said that Angola has "all the conditions" necessary to implement the project: "We believe that Angola has all the conditions so that we can help develop this sector", he said.
According to the statement, Dubai's E20 Investment has already had "agronomy specialists" in the country for more than 90 days, who are carrying out all prospecting work" in the aforementioned provinces.
