Luanda – The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for the Angolan manufacturing industry registered, in the period from 2018 to 2022, a cumulative 7.7%, with greater emphasis on the last year.
The information was provided this Wednesday by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, during the opening ceremony of the Industrial Fair's 5th Edition, which takes place under the motto “It is possible for us to walk together”.
According to the Angolan Head of State, the figure represents a growth of around 6%, surpassing the projection foreseen in the 2022 General State Budget (OGE).
At the exhibition taking place in the Special Economic Zone (ZEE), in the Luanda Municipality of Viana, in Luanda, President João Lourenço stated that over 200 new projects were approved and implemented in the same period.
These are high-impact ventures in the field of manufacturing industry, distributed across the country's 18 provinces, in several subsectors of activities.
According to the holder of the Executive Power, the action resulted in over ten thousand jobs, with greater emphasis on the food sector, having highlighted that it is a commitment by the Executive to increase industrial production, to ensure self-sufficiency in essential goods of consumption.
The President of the Republic considered it fundamental to continue to stimulate and boost the increase in national production in order to reduce prices, imports and increase exports.
With that, he said, the country will be able to face the competitiveness arising from Angola's adherence to the protocols of the SADC Free Trade Area, the African Continental and the Tripartite Free Trade Area.
In his speech, João Lourenço called for an organized, systematic and persistent effort to attract national and foreign private investment, in order to place the country on the path of industrialization established by SADC.
For the Angolan statesman, this task is not an easy one, as competition between countries to attract foreign direct investment is quite strong.
It is notorious the effort that the country has been making in recent years in increasing and improving the infrastructure to support industry and the economy as a whole.
Improved electricity supply
In front of exhibitors and businesspeople, President João Lourenço noted that there has been, in recent years, a considerable increase in the supply of electricity from hydroelectric and photovoltaic production sources.
He said that the aforementioned increase consequently reduced the production of electricity from thermal sources (pollutants) and that increase the price of the product (energy) sold to domestic and business consumers.
Within the framework of improving the supply of electricity, President João Lourenço underlined the fact that the Executive is investing in the construction of transport lines.
On the occasion, the Head of State said that it was energy produced in the Lower Kwanza basin, namely in Kapanda, Laúca and Cambambe, as well as in the Soyo Combined Cycle, in Zaire Province.
“All of them are already interconnected, through the National Transport Network, to take this available capacity to the East, Southeast and South of the country”, informed the President of the Republic.
The holder of executive power added that one of the ideas of the project is to connect the national network to the provinces of Lunda Sul, Lunda Norte, Moxico, Cuando Cubango, Huíla, Cunene and Namibe.
Water sector
President João Lourenço announced that important investments are also scheduled in the water sectors, all over the country.
He stated that for Luanda, the country's main industrial centre, the Bita and Quilonga projects are being implemented which should improve the water supply to the Angolan capital.
As for the current context of the national manufacturing industry, the Angolan statesman said that it offers many challenges, opportunities but also constraints.
Angola continues to mark very precise steps in its process of opening up to the outside world, looking for ways to diversify the economy by substituting imports, promoting exports, reducing the country's dependence on the oil sector.
Around 230 companies are taking part in the Industrial fair/2023 5th edition, in the Special Economic Zone (ZEE) Luanda-Bengo, until the 1st of April.
The transformation industry, engineering and civil construction, as well as the food industry and agribusiness are some of the sectors present in the sample that has national and foreign exhibitors.
The “Expo-Industria” (Expo Industry) event is the biggest industrial showcase in Angola and aims to stimulate investment in national industry, within the scope of the strategy of diversifying the economy, substituting imports, increasing exports, reducing unemployment and poverty.
