Angola plans to begin rebuilding its roads destroyed in the 1975-2002 civil war, starting with a 300km stretch between the capital Luanda and the northern agricultural and mining province of Uige, the national road body said on Tuesday.
China has granted Angola a $211-million loan to finance the first stage of the project, which will be carried out by the private Chinese company Roads and Bridges Corporation (CRBC) over the next two years.
Almost all of the country’s main roads are unusable after the war.
The Uige province is rich in coffee plantations and vast copper deposits in the Mavoyo region, neither of which have been exploited since Angola’s independence from Portugal and the start of the war in 1975.
Since a peace accord was signed in April 2002, Angolan authorities have been trying, largely in vain, to rally the international community’s support to help rebuild the country’s destroyed infrastructure.
International financial institutions have called for more transparency in President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ management of his country’s resources, in particular of oil revenues which currently account for 54% of Angola’s gross domestic product.
China has placed no such conditions on Angola and has made large investments in the country, which is the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, after Nigeria, with about one million barrels per day.
By 2008, Angola’s oil production is expected to double. – Sapa-AFP