Investors Are Interested in Barra do Dande Region, Angola

Joaquim Piedade, from SDBD, did not want to quantify how many proposals were received for the management, execution, and exploration of part of the components of Phase I of the Integrated Development Free Zone of Barra do Dande in this phase of prior qualification, which ends on November 15.

The first phase encompasses 860 hectares of a total area of 5,465 hectares and four components: a maritime-port terminal, a food oil refinery, silos for the strategic food reserve, and a photovoltaic park.

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The SDBD official said they are currently focused on resolving administrative issues, namely those related to the special regimes provided for in the free zone

The chairman of the board of directors of the Sociedade de Desenvolvimento da Barra do Dande (SDBD), who was speaking at a public presentation session of the project, stressed that it aims to address four issues: food security, energy security, fuel security, and economic and industrial development.

The region (Bengo province, north of Luanda and next to the Dande river) was chosen for the development of the free trade zone because there are already anchor projects, namely the ocean terminal, which is being developed by Sonangol, and a ceramics production industry of Chinese origin, which occupies 400 hectares.

In the previous qualification contest “the candidates must demonstrate that they have the technical and financial qualification to develop projects with this dimension,” said Joaquim Piedade.

“We have competitors, mostly national, and also foreigners,” he said, adding that the nationals are looking for international partners for joint investments in the free trade zone.

As for the industrial hub, the goal is to attract four priority sectors: automotive, food, renewable energy, and construction materials.

The SDBD official said they are currently focused on resolving administrative issues, namely those related to the special regimes provided for in the free zone

“Only the tax regime has been approved, we still have to deal with the foreign exchange regime, the migration regime, the labor regime, and others that support the investors that are in the free zone,” he said, stressing that the project is now being presented to the national and international community.

He also said that an “investor’s window” will be created with all the necessary services to respond to bureaucratic issues, whose headquarters will be implanted in the Dande region.

Joaquim Piedade predicts that it will be implemented in 2025, when the execution of several infrastructures will already be underway.

“If we have the investors for the maritime port terminal, which will be the main means of flow, this will automatically precipitate the advance of the whole project of execution of the work,” whose first phase should be concluded in 2027.

On the issue of accessibility and energy and water supply, issues raised during the debate in which the project was presented, Joaquim Piedade said that SDBD is thinking about alternatives.

One of the possibilities is the rehabilitation and concession of a national road whose investment would be made profitable through the payment of tolls.

“We have in our portfolio a concrete proposal, which supposes an investment of more than 13 million dollars, and is being discussed,” indicated the president of SDBS, adding that it would be a public-private partnership.

“The difference in this project is this: to be able to attract the private sector to investments that are traditionally made by the State”, Joaquim Piedade emphasized, adding that 30 + 25 year contracts are on the table, in the case of infrastructures, to recover the investment.

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(Featured image by bmadeira via Pixabay)

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First published in Africa 21 Digital, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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