Bengo: President Joo Louren§o expressed on Thursday, in Barra do Dande, Bengo province, his satisfaction with the private investment in the region's aluminum factory. Speaking in a press conference, after the inauguration of the Barra do Dande aluminum factory, whose initial investment is 250 million US dollars, the President said that the country needs these bets from the private sector in practically all areas of the economy.
According to Angola Press News Agency, these initiatives allow for an increase in the range of products and services for the benefit of the population and export, adding that he leaves the region satisfied, since what the authorities want is beginning to materialize, which is to attract national and foreign private investment. "We are not satisfied with the fact that Angola exports almost exclusively crude oil, even more so in its raw form, something that will also change soon following the visit I made a few days ago to Lobito. When we have the Lobito Refinery, this situation may change," the president said.
The president stressed the need to transform a large part of the raw materials that are extracted in the country or even import them and transform them locally, adding value, creating jobs and increasing exports. "Our export strategy is to encourage private investors to produce more and more exportable products, which serve not only for domestic consumption, but which are accepted in the international market so that we can diversify our sources of revenue in general, but very particularly the collection of foreign exchange," the president said.
With an annual production capacity of 120,000 tons of electrolytic aluminum that can be transformed into alloys, sheets, rods, and other derivative products, the factory will create more than 1,200 jobs in the first phase. Most of these jobs will be for young Angolans. The first phase of the project is expected to generate around 300 million US dollars in annual revenue, contributing directly to the country's economic and industrial growth, while the second phase will create 3,000 jobs and is expected to be completed in 2027, which will require an investment of 500 million US dollars and will produce 240,000 tons of electrolytic aluminum and 150,000 tons of anodic carbon per year.
In total, the Huatong Aluminum Industrial Park, located in the Barra do Dande Free Trade Zone, will have five development phases, with a total investment estimated at 1.6 billion dollars, over eight to ten years. The project, a result of a partnership between the Chinese consortium Hebei Huatong Wire and Cables Group Co. Ltd. and Huatong Angola Industry, Ltd., is expected to create around 12,000 jobs when fully completed.
In addition to strengthening economic cooperation between Angola and China, the industrial park is expected to increase exports and state revenues, consolidating Bengo's role as a new Industrial Development Hub in the country. The Barra do Dande Integrated Development Free Trade Zone (ZFDIBD) was created by Presidential Decree No. 62/21 of May 6th.
