Africa-Press – Angola. Cargo movement at the Port of Lobito could, this year, approach two million tons, said Transport Minister Ricardo D’Abreu this Wednesday.
The government official, who was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the Multipurpose Terminal (general and containerized cargo) in favor of the Africa Global Logistics consortium, referred to the figures achieved in 2023, where a net result of more than 29 billion kwanzas was achieved, with a transported load approaching one million and 400 thousand tons.
“The numbers we have just systematized are promising and make us believe that the efforts implemented and the management models pursued are the right path to progress and boost national port activity”, he stated.
The minister advocates that Porto must have professional, rigid management guided by the best international practices, so that it is capable of presenting itself as one of the best in Southern Africa.
“We assumed the concession contract for the terminal with a reference multimodal logistics agreement in Africa, whose activities are developed in the areas of logistics management, maritime agency and railway concessions”, he stated.
Ricardo D’Abreu recalled that AGL is present in 49 countries, operates in 21 port concessions, including seventeen Ro Ro terminals, two forest products terminals, two railway concessions and on the connection between Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso.
The official recalled that it is owned by the MSC group (Mediterranean Shipping Company), a global leader in maritime transport that operates in more than 155 countries, with more than a thousand employees and whose financial capacity is internationally recognized, as well as its suitability.
“It means that the Angolan Government, through the Ministry of Transport, made the best choice among the competitors who were interested in this project and we will see the Port of Lobito operating with high levels of efficiency and profitability, using the most modern technology”, he considered.
Ricardo de D’Abreu stated that the payment to the granting entity, in the amount of 115 million dollars, of which 80 million has already been paid, the execution of an ambitious investment plan of more than 200 million dollars, the maintenance of jobs for professionals assigned to the multipurpose terminal and the implementation of a bold training plan, with a view to capitalizing on Angolan workers, are issues to be considered.
To these, he added the insertion of mid- and higher-level staff in the different concessionaires and in their decision-making structure, as provided for in current legislation on private investment and on the promotion of national work.
The minister said that “today marks the management of a before and after of an infrastructure that has always been important but that became crucial after the concession to the Lobito Atlantic Railway of the Lobito Corridor, for the three countries that connect directly, namely Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia”.
“Just over three months ago, on December 11, 2023, we signed the terminal concession contract with AGL here in Lobito, after completing an international tender process that we launched and at the end of the very intense negotiations, which held between the two teams”, said the minister.
The Multipurpose Terminal has a total area of 241 million, 540 thousand and 94 square meters and a berth of 1,199 meters.
It has a depth of 14.7 meters with a capacity for 600 thousand tons of general cargo and 250 thousand 20-foot containers/year.
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