Your province is very well reputed to be the exception among all the other provinces. Can you briefly tell us how this part of Angola managed to remain so peaceful? What would be your specificity?
This happens because the province is inappropriate to host groups of warriors. The only river that flows in the province permanently is too far in the south. Our water, besides being controlled by the Provincial Government, is extracted from holes. In addition to that, the Mucubais - Namibe's original population - are nomads and are not sympathetic towards UNITA. They inform the government of the presence of strange elements, making it less probable that the militants of UNITA present in the province attempt to control it. Another factor is that the National Government itself protects the province since it has a large economic potential concentrated in the fishery, sea trade and tourism sectors.
Your province seems to be endowed with a few resources such as fish and a great potential in the sector of tourism, and maybe in the development of sea trade activities. Within this framework, what is the main guideline of the development strategy of your province?
A five-year-project to rehabilitate the Province of Namibe has been approved, where Ministries are going to rehabilitate the port, the railroad and the road that connects Namibe to South Africa and Windhoek. The same project foresees that the Government of the Province will develop the systems of agriculture, cattle-raising, fishery, tourism, environment preservation, energy, water and communication infrastructures which are not the Central Government's responsibility. However, the main point of our strategy is to educate people to develop the province. Thus, we have created a basic education institute and a technical high school. We will create a university institute next year. At the same time we have recruited a large number of people educated in the various fields we wish our investors to focus on. I have been the Governor of this Province for two years only, and during this time I have managed to come up with this new way of administering the Province. I have ensured the education of architects, economists, vets, engineers, etc.
Tourism also seems to have the potential to contribute to further economic development of the area. But what about your investment strategy in the necessary infrastructures?
We are aware that we can only attract investors if we develop our infrastructures. Thus, we have installed potable water in all our districts and we aim to reach the rural areas as well. Odebrecht, a Brazilian enterprise, is rehabilitating the Matala dam as part of our investment in electricity. Our airport has international dimensions so it can host commercial planes and boost up air tourism. Namibe has great tourist points. We have a place called Arco, similar to Sun City in South Africa. Only that the first is artificial and ours is completely natural. Only the hotels are missing. We have hot springs, we have Serra da Leba which people think is in Huíla, we have conditions for underwater fishing, safaris, hunting... We are only waiting for an intervention to develop this area and help us manage it. This is why we are receiving and inviting journalists, foreign entities and visiting other countries.
Please let the people know that we are open to tourism, we are not affected by war and we don't have land mines. Namibe is a province that has never been involved in war, neither by land nor by sea. The Ministry of Catering and Tourism is developing a work abroad in order to attract people to this province. Unfortunately, I am afraid the results will be slow because people associate Angola with its dark side - war. Namibe has not been affected by war for 25 years. Let me tell you that if people are reluctant to come to Namibe because of the war, then they can choose to invest in the sea. This sector has never been involved in war.
Do you project to boost the trading capacity of your province by expanding the infrastructure of the Port of Namibe?
We are utterly interested in reviving the fishery sector. Besides boosting the trading capacity of our province, rehabilitating the port has the objective of attracting new investments, either national or international
| You have a great fishery potential. To what extent do you intend to develop your production capacity? Do you believe there is a potential for any investor in that sector?
Our fishery sector is the most important in the country. Any ship wishing to obtain good results has to come to the coast of Namibe. Yet, because of wrong policies in the past, we are now working far below our real capacity. Angola was once the major fishmeal producer in the world. We descended to the second place and now I don't even know where we are. This is why we need heavy investments in this sector that has a great potential for national as well as for foreign investors. As fishing is an integrated activity, we expect the future companies not to be limited to catching the fish, but to be process it and export it if possible.
Also, we have significant agricultural resources. This is the only province where you can find grapes, strawberries and peaches. We are expecting a South African group to help us develop this sector
Do you believe you could become a significant exporter of fishes within the region?
Yes, since we are allowed to trade with every country in the world, except with the ones sanctioned by United Nations. Our sea is rich in a wide variety of fish. We have jack-fish, mackerel and other types of fish, we have fish of a very high quality like "cherne", which export mainly to Portugal and Spain. South Africa and Namibia buy our fishmeal.
You are presently the Governor of the Province of Namibe. Can you tell us more about yourself: can you briefly come back on your professional background and tell us what would be your greatest challenge in the near future?
Well, as you know, my name is Salomão Xinimbimbi, I am married and I am a member of the Political Board of Directors of the MPLA. Having been an Angolan Vice-Minister of Planning, a Minister of Finance, a President of the Angolan's Parliament Committee of Economy and Finance and currently being a deputy with a suspended mandate are among my most significant achievements. The board of Directors of my party asked me to be the Governor of this Province so I left the parliament. While I was a Vice-Minister of Planning, I had the opportunity to negotiate important economical measures with the World Bank, which unfortunately were not implemented due to the country's return to war. My major challenge in the near future is to join everybody's efforts to build the country we all aspire - without war, misery, able to give dignity to its citizens and fight for them. I would like to thank the President of Angola for the support and care he has been dedicating to this province. To cite you an example, there has been a natural calamity and he aided us with tents for shelter. Most of our bridges have been destroyed and the Province was totally inaccessible. Now, thanks to his support, we are once more functioning at 100% and fighting the epidemics that seized this opportunity to act.
What message would like to address to our readers?
I would like to say that Angola is a beautiful country. Unfortunately, it is only known by its on-going war. But there are provinces that have never suffered with the threat of war. If you like challenges and you want to invest, don't wait until war here is completely over. Come to Angola and when you do, come to Namibe as well. We have enormous resources. For example, we have everything to manufacture cement. Angola will need lots of cement to rebuild the country in the future. We have mines of plaster, granite, marble. We are available and ready to co-operate with investors and help them with any drawbacks they might have when establishing their investment.
NB: World Investment News Ltd shall not be held responsible for unedited transcription past the 15-day delay after remittance of the latter. |
