Luanda, Oct. 10, 2025 (Lusa) - The Angolan president on Friday inaugurated the Moçâmedes Bay Integrated Development Project in Namibe province, southern Angola, which received US$600 million (€517.1 million) in funding from Japan.
The project, which aims to transform the port of Namibe into a leading logistics hub in the South Atlantic, includes the expansion and modernisation of the Sacomar Commercial and Mineral Port, as well as the expansion and modernisation of the Namibe Port Container Terminal, the construction of new administrative and logistical support infrastructure, and the introduction of modern, state-of-the-art equipment.
Speaking to the press, Angolan president João Lourenço thanked everyone involved who helped the Angolan government "make this great project a reality in a very short time, precisely three years."
"It is true that we started talking about it in 2019, but the first stone was only laid in 2022," said João Lourenço, adding that the aim is to integrate these two terminals, through other transport modules, road and rail, with the Moçâmedes Railway.
"Namibe has just gained a new and modern Container Terminal and the Sacomar Mineral Terminal, where we intend not only to receive minerals from the interior of the country, from the provinces of Huíla, Cuando e Cubango, but also from the province of Namibe itself," said the Angolan head of government.
João Lourenço announced that the government intends to develop a project for the construction of a national steel mill to add value to the iron ore extracted from the Cassinga mines in Huíla province and other iron ore mines.
In his speech, Angola's Minister of Transport, Ricardo de Abreu, said that the infrastructure now has a 520-metre quay bridge, capable of receiving Panamax ships of up to 320 metres and 250,000 tonnes.
Ricardo de Abreu highlighted the cooperation with Japan, with the involvement of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the project leader, in addition to Japanese financing banks, as well as regional banks, particularly South African banks, which were "crucial to the success of the project".
"They brought technology, experience and rigour in execution, reinforcing mutual trust and Angola's credibility with its international partners. This partnership was and will continue to be much more than a collaboration in the technical field," he said.
Angola's Minister of Transport highlighted the role of Japanese partners, who, as part of their social responsibility, also supported the resumption and completion of the iconic Cine Estúdio, whose construction had been interrupted for 50 years.
This cultural space, now called the Mussungo Bitoto Cultural Centre, inaugurated today by the Angolan president, is being reborn, according to the minister, "half a century later", to give back to the province of Namibe and the country "a facility of identity, art and memory".
The Angolan Head of State thanked Toyota Tsusho Corporation for the rehabilitation of this building, which will be a cultural landmark, "at a standstill for exactly 50 years", stressing that it was a project that began in colonial times, in 1975, and remained paralysed until today.
NME/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
