Catumbela – With attracting investments to boost tourism at the top of the agenda, the 1st Investor Forum for the Angolan region of the Okavango Basin will take place from 27 to 30 September this year, in the province of Cuando Cubango.
A “sleeping monster” in terms of tourism potential, the Angolan region of the Okavango Basin involves six provinces, namely Huambo, Bié, Huíla, Cunene, Moxico and Cuando Cubango, the latter being the one with the greatest potential.
In an interview with ANGOP, in Catumbela, Ângela Canganjo, head of the Investment Promotion Department of the National Agency for the Management of the Okavango Region (ANAGERO), believes that the Investor Forum, with 200 expected participants, will attract private investment to develop tourism in that region.
Without revealing the volume of investment required, the official explains that the event is an initiative of ANAGERO, with a view to taking full advantage of the business opportunities that the Angolan Okavango region offers to national and international investors.
According to the interviewee, at the moment, investment in the Okavango Basin is timid, hence the intention to hold this forum this year, in an attempt to change the current situation.
Indeed, she announced that some national and foreign investors, namely from neighbouring countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana, had already expressed interest in investing in the Angolan Okavango region.
Tax incentives for investors
“This forum will also arise to encourage national and international investors because we know that the tourism sector is quite ambitious”, she reinforced.
Ângela Canganjo asserts that the Okavango region offers great opportunities for private investment in ecotourism, agribusiness and similar sectors (agriculture and livestock).
While the intention of these investors does not materialize, she anticipates, for the moment, that work is being done on tourism planning, that is, reviewing some issues related to private investment, for the granting of tax incentives to investors.
She considers this work important, in articulation with the Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency of Angola (AIPEX), because the intention is to take advantage of the Investor Forum to sign a memorandum of understanding with investors interested in investing in the locality.
“The idea is to grant tax incentives to investors, since the area is difficult to access”, Ângela Canganjo explained, guaranteeing that all the criteria are being carefully thought out to favour the investor, so that he feels attracted to invest in that area.
Currently, some investors in the region are already investing heavily in the construction of lodges, guest farms and hunting grounds, an experience that she considers to be of great value to Angola in the area of ecotourism.
So much so that, at this moment, a delegation from ANAGERO is carrying out a visit to verify and exchange experiences in Zambia and Namibia, as they are countries that in terms of tourism are much more advanced in relation to Angola, despite the existing potential to reach to this level in the near future.
However, Ângela Canganjo has no doubts that private investment in tourism can boost the diversification of the economy, which is why she announces that the forum will be multisectoral, involving 11 government institutions, such as the ministries of Culture and Tourism, Environment and Home Affairs .
As there is an underused potential, the Angolan State created ANAGERO so that it can awaken “this monster that lies dormant in the Okavango Basin region”, covering the six provinces already mentioned.
On the other hand, she referred that the agency also works in partnership with non-governmental organizations in such a way that all investors bring projects that can help in the growth of communities around the region.
Based in the municipality of Cuito Cuanavale, in the province of Cuando Cubango, the National Agency for the Management of the Okavango Region (ANAGERO) is a government institution created in 2019. JH/CRB/DOJ
