Chinese billions fuel repair of roads in Angola

JOHANNESBURG – Backed by billions of dollars in Chinese loans, Angola is speeding up the building of roads and railways to help bring in more foreign direct investment, says Angola’s transport minister.

Andre Luis Brandao told Reuters in an interview that a US$4 billion (about N$27,2 billion) programme to repair railways and roads damaged by three decades of civil war had been completed, easing movement of people and goods. “We’ve completed the emergency plan and cost is not anything that constrains us.We get the work done and the economic gains are worth the money we are investing,” Brandao said.A 27-year civil war pitting the government and the then Unita rebel movement ended with the battlefield death of veteran Jonas Savimbi in 2002.Roads and railways were severely damaged during that period and the Angolan countryside remained a no-go area because of poor infrastructure and land mines.Angola had now launched the next phase of major rail refurbishment and in some cases building of new sections to open transport routes to the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, in South Africa for a meeting of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), Brandao said.A rail link between Luanda and the southern town of Menongue would be completed this year, while links to the port of Namibe on the Namibia border and the north-eastern Benguela line through the town of Luena to the Zambian town of Mwinilunga would be ready by end of 2007, he added.Namibe is a major port of entry for Namibian goods and trucks from South Africa.The Benguela would bring metals to Luanda for export and could become an alternative route for exporting Zambian copper and cobalt.A feasibility study was under way for a new rail line – an ambitious project covering more than 1 000 km linking Luanda to the northern Angolan enclave of Cabinda.Angola only wanted to determine the project’s cost but had already decided it would go ahead anyway, Brandao said.”Luanda-Cabinda rail is a very important project.We’ll build a bridge over the Congo river and the railway will go overland a little in the Congo.We have to open up the north so that minerals there can reach markets quickly,” Brandao said.Angola is rich in oil, minerals and timber.The northern town of Uige which is on the Cabinda line has enormous iron, manganese and timber, but slow movement of the resources to ports for export had been a vexing subject.A French bank arranged a US$2 billion (about N$13,6 billion) oil-backed loan to Angola in 2003 for developing infrastructure and that was followed by a loan rising to $3 billion (about N$20,4 million) from China’s Eximbank for the same purpose.Angolan authorities said the Chinese had agreed to add another $2 billion this week.Brandao said some of the roads and railway repair projects involved Chinese companies and workers but most of the work was being done by Angolans themselves.- Nampa-Reuters”We’ve completed the emergency plan and cost is not anything that constrains us.We get the work done and the economic gains are worth the money we are investing,” Brandao said.A 27-year civil war pitting the government and the then Unita rebel movement ended with the battlefield death of veteran Jonas Savimbi in 2002.Roads and railways were severely damaged during that period and the Angolan countryside remained a no-go area because of poor infrastructure and land mines.Angola had now launched the next phase of major rail refurbishment and in some cases building of new sections to open transport routes to the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana, in South Africa for a meeting of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), Brandao said.A rail link between Luanda and the southern town of Menongue would be completed this year, while links to the port of Namibe on the Namibia border and the north-eastern Benguela line through the town of Luena to the Zambian town of Mwinilunga would be ready by end of 2007, he added.Namibe is a major port of entry for Namibian goods and trucks from South Africa.The Benguela would bring metals to Luanda for export and could become an alternative route for exporting Zambian copper and cobalt.A feasibility study was under way for a new rail line – an ambitious project covering more than 1 000 km linking Luanda to the northern Angolan enclave of Cabinda.Angola only wanted to determine the project’s cost but had already decided it would go ahead anyway, Brandao said.”Luanda-Cabinda rail is a very important project.We’ll build a bridge over the Congo river and the railway will go overland a little in the Congo.We have to open up the north so that minerals there can reach markets quickly,” Brandao said.Angola is rich in oil, minerals and timber.The northern town of Uige which is on the Cabinda line has enormous iron, manganese and timber, but slow movement of the resources to ports for export had been a vexing subject.A French bank arranged a US$2 billion (about N$13,6 billion) oil-backed loan to Angola in 2003 for developing infrastructure and that was followed by a loan rising to $3 billion (about N$20,4 million) from China’s Eximbank for the same purpose.Angolan authorities said the Chinese had agreed to add another $2 billion this week.Brandao said some of the roads and railway repair projects involved Chinese companies and workers but most of the work was being done by Angolans themselves.- Nampa-Reuters