Africa-Press – Angola. Economic agents in the municipality of Mbanza Kongo, Zaire province, asked the competent authorities this Thursday to speed up the implementation of the Luvo Logistics Platform, to be built just a few meters from the border with the DRC.
Producers expressed concern about the delay in publishing the results of the public tender for the concession of this logistics infrastructure, launched on November 17, 2021, in the city of Soyo, by the Ministry of Transport.
The launch event, which had been guided by the Minister of Transport, Ricardo de Abreu, also covered the Soyo Logistics Platform, with the deadline set for submission of proposals by interested companies being January 6, 2022.
Agricultural businessman Afonso Luyeye said that the construction of this project would contribute to the economic development of the region, which is why he asked the competent structures to make a statement on the matter.
“This infrastructure, with all its expected capabilities, will make it easier for us to better conserve and transport products to the DRC,” he said.
António Tuzolana, head of an artisanal fishing cooperative in the municipality of Nzeto, also dreams of placing the fish caught in the village’s seas on the market in the neighboring country, having also requested speed in the implementation of the aforementioned project.
According to the source, with a Logistics Platform in operation at the Luvo border post, it would help in capturing more foreign exchange that would result from the sale of fresh fish to the DRC.
The idea is also corroborated by farmer Rafael Nunes, who is dedicated to growing citrus fruits, in the municipality of Tomboco, for whom the project would serve as an opportunity to take his production across the border.
“There are a lot of oranges rotting every year, because we do not have the conservation and transportation conditions to take the product to Luanda. The Luvo Logistics Platform would be our salvation,” he declared.
Advantages of the Logistics Platform
Economist Sebastião Ndele, interviewed on this subject, explained that a logistics platform aims to systematize the cargo transport and logistics process and serves as an intermediary in the commercial circuit between production regions and potential markets.
In his view, these structures can contribute significantly to the process of diversifying the regional economy and the country, in particular, through the optimization of an integrated logistics network, whether by land, sea, rail or air.
He emphasized that, within the scope of the Free Trade Market that is intended to be functional in Africa, Angola would gain a lot from an efficient and properly structured network of logistics platforms, serving as an anchor for the conquest of potential markets for the internal production of goods and services.
“Luvo is a strategic point for the effectiveness of cross-border trade”, asserted the economist.
It should be noted that, as part of the operationalization of the logistics sector in Angola, a program under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport, it is planned to build the Luvo Platform, next to the border with the DRC, in the municipality of Mbanza Kongo, and Soyo, in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) modality.
The Luvo platform, to be built in an area of 18 hectares, around 11 kilometers from the border line with the DRC, will cost USD 18 million, according to data from the responsible ministry.
The infrastructure will include six warehouses, parking lots for containers and heavy vehicles, administrative and commercial buildings, fuel pumps, among other features.
It is planned, by the year 2038, to build 21 Logistics Platforms in the country, namely those in Luvo and Soyo (Zaire) and Luau (Moxico), with public tenders already launched, Caála (Huambo), Lombe (Malanje), Arimba (Huila), among others.
The Luvo border post is 60 kilometers north of the city of Mbanza Kongo, capital of the province of Zaire.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
