CITIC invests $40 million in Angola’s aluminum plant
An aluminum profile factory with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tonnes, a $40 million investment from China's CITIC, has been inaugurated in the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone (ZEE) in Viana Angola.
The manufacturing unit allowed the creation of 300 jobs and became one of the largest producers of aluminum profiles for civil construction in the country.
At the ceremony, the president of the Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (Aipex), Licínio Vás Contreiras, said he hoped the project would cover a large part of the domestic market's needs, thus contributing to the reduction of imports of aluminum and similar profiles , in order to ease the pressure on the country's foreign exchange reserves.
Although the first phase involves the importation of the raw material, namely aluminum ingots, the manager pointed out that the project foresees for the second phase the processing of scrap, which will reduce drastically the import needs of the raw material and to induce in a way creation of hundreds of jobs.
The President of AIPEX hopes that CITIC will continue to focus on the Angolan economy and will be able to participate actively in the process of diversification of the Angolan economy, highlighting the sectors of agriculture, food processing industry, agricultural machinery and equipment and through the creation of mechanisms practical and efficient partnerships to help establish partnerships between Angolan and Chinese companies in the field of project development in the productive sector.
At the opening session, China's ambassador to Angola, Gong Tao, underlined that it is the largest aluminum profile factory in Angola, equipped with modern technology and one of the largest projects of Chinese companies in Angola.
According to the ambassador, in recent years, Chinese companies have made a series of investments in Angola, involving the areas of agriculture, processing, automobile assembly, building materials and others.
Gong Tao said that China's investment improves the industrial chain and contributes gradually to Angola's socio-economic development, as Chinese companies allow job creation and training, helping Angola mitigate unemployment problems.
"Investment is a driving force for the country's economic development. China is pleased with the efforts made by the Angolan government to improve the business environment, attract investment, promote economic reform, "he said.
He assured that China is willing to share experiences with Angola, promoting the implementation of similar projects.
ZEE executive director Carlos Neto André said that the zone constitutes an important institutional platform for the realization of investments and will continue to play a central role in supporting the Executive's effort to make private investments, thus contributing to growth economic.
According to Carlos Neto André, the factory complies with the objectives set out in the National Development Plan 2018-2022, whose policies and actions aim at improving the economic and social situation, oriented towards macroeconomic stability, economic growth and job creation .
CITIC Alumínio Angola Co, Lda is a diversified company with a main focus on steelmaking and starts operating as the largest producer of aluminum profiles in Angola, with an annual production of 10 thousand tons of various types of aluminum profiles for construction .
The investment for this plant was approved on April 19, 2017 by the extinct Technical Unit for Private Investment (UTIP) and aims at the construction of a plant that includes the processing of scrap in order to produce aluminum profiles.
The factory will produce aluminum profiles for use in construction, including powder coating materials and processing products for the production of doors and windows.