Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino de Azevedo, announced on Thursday, in Benguela, that his institution will have a heavy hand in the illegal exploitation of mineral resources.
Diamantino de Azevedo made this statement to the press, on the sidelines of the working visit of the Zambian Head of State, Hakainde Hichilema, to the province of Benguela to verify its economic potential.
According to the minister, the Angolan government defends that mineral resources should be exploited in accordance with the mining code and the environmental law.
“People who intend to explore any mineral resource in the country will have to do so, respecting the legislation, and, for this, must acquire a title issued by the Ministry”, he advised.
He warned, on the other hand, that the Executive will not abdicate the exploitation of the mineral resources that the country has, assuring that it “intends to participate in a fair energy transition, which respects the interests of the countries”.
He admitted that he does not rule out the existence of illegal exploitation of some ores, but that the sector has used all pedagogical and coercive means, for those who insist on acting in this way.
He also made it known that the Angolan Government wants to improve, more and more, the exploration of oil and gas in environmental terms, with the decarbonisation and reduction of gas emissions.
As for the Lobito refinery project, whose visit was on the agenda of the President of the Republic of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, he made it known that, despite the project being paralyzed for a long time, the Executive understood to reactivate it within the scope of the refining strategy to the country, which includes the improvement of the Luanda Refinery and the construction of three new refineries in the provinces of Benguela, Cabinda and Zaire.
“The construction of the new refineries, once completed, will not only serve the country, but also the region, taking into account that it will have additional capacity for export, in which the Republic of Zambia was invited to be part of future shareholders”, underlined.
Diamantino de Azevedo also revealed that there had been a considerable reduction in construction costs for the Lobito Refinery, the value of which was not revealed, and Zambia put forward a proposal of 15 percent, which will be analyzed by the Government of Angola.
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