Africa-Press – Angola. Strengthening strategic cooperation with Spain and mobilizing European investment for the development of key logistics infrastructure in Angola is the focus of minister of Transport Ricardo Viegas de Abreu’s two-day visit to Spain.
The visit began Monday with his participation in the Spain-Angola Business Meeting at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, where Angola presented a clear proposal to position itself as the main Atlantic logistics corridor for the export of critical minerals and for the regional economic integration of Southern Africa.
According to a press release from the Angolan Embassy in Spain, at the heart of this strategy is the Lobito Development Corridor, considered a first-rate geopolitical and economic asset.
The infrastructure connects the Port of Lobito to the mining areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia, offering Europe the shortest, safest, and most efficient route for access to raw materials essential to the world energy transition.
The infrastructure is supported by the European Union’s Global Gateway initiative and projects Angola as an unavoidable regional logistics hub, with a direct impact on the competitiveness of the mining sector, but also on the boost of agriculture, manufacturing, and value chains along the railway axis.
The minister’s intervention is also part of a set of key projects that reinforce this objective, namely the Barra do Dande Free Trade Zone, the Icolo and Bengo Airport City, and the Cabinda Deepwater Terminal.
Together, these infrastructures form a multimodal transport system geared towards operational efficiency, sustainability, and integration into global trade flows.
The highest point of the visit will be in the second day during a official meeting between minister Ricardo Viegas d ́Abreu and his Spanish counterpart Óscar Puente Santiago.
The purpose of the meeting is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the Transport and Infrastructure sector, thereby creating a technical framework for innovation and modernisation of transport chains.
This mentioned agreement will enable Spain’s experience in the areas of railways, logistics, and urban mobility to be aligned with the Angolan government’s strategic priorities, strengthening the institutional and operational capacity of the transport sector in Angola.
The Angolan delegation, whose visit ends on Tuesday, includes Angola’s ambassador to Spain, Balbina Malheiro Dias da Silva, as well as senior officials from the Angolan Regulatory Agency for Cargo and Logistics Certification (ARCCLA) and the Ministry of Transport.
