Net gains: Namibe fishermen catch about 65 percent of Angola’s total

Fishing for new sources of investment
PROVINCE OF NAMIBE With the fisheries sector not as strong as it was, the government looks to exploit industries such as mining, for which it needs funds

raditionally fishing has taken pride of place in Namibe in the far south of Angola, but other sectors are now starting to assume a bigger role in the local economy.
While much of the coastal area is arid semi-desert, further inland lie rich agricultural lands suitable for livestock farming, vineyards and olive groves. Even though the province suffers from an inadequate supply of water, it is self-sufficient in food.
Provincial governor Salomao Xirimbimbi says improving the water supply has been given “maximum priority”. A drilling program has been carried out to increase the number of wells and a pipeline network has been built to distribute drinkable water to the capital, also called Namibe, and major towns elsewhere in the province.
Improving the water supply is key to one of the governor’s other ambitions: boosting the farming sector. “We want to develop agriculture so that we have enough production to help other parts of Angola and, if possible, produce a surplus for export and industrial production based on agriculture,” he says. “American investment is very welcome in this area.”

Xirimbimbi: capital

Processing plants
The drive to diversify the economy under the provincial government’s plan for 2000-04 stems partly from the realization that the fisheries sector is not as strong as it was, even though Namibe still accounts for 65 per cent of Angola’s fishing industry. The fishing fleet has shrunk over the years and with it the number of processing plants.
“We need big investment in this sector and in the fish-processing industries,” he says. “Fisheries need large amounts of capital and the government cannot afford the cost of rehabilitating the industry, so the sector is open to foreign investment.”
Other opportunities for investors can be found in the fledgling mining industry, in which Namibe possesses large reserves of marble, granite and other minerals. “This is a virgin sector that has yet to be explored,” says Mr Xirimbimbi.

Port project: $50m modernization

Foreign capital will also be needed if Namibe is to exploit its potential in the petroleum sector, although it has yet to be confirmed whether the province has commercially viable reserves of oil and natural gas. The discovery and development of petroleum deposits would be a boost to the economy, given that Namibe currently depends on energy supplies from other Angolan provinces.
Again, the governor readily acknowledges that if there is oil and gas, Namibe will not be able to develop and exploit their potential on its own. “This sector requires huge amounts of capital, which our national investors have no capacity to offer, and for that reason we need international funds through investors.”

Namibe largely escaped the violence of the civil war – the rebel forces of Unita never established a presence there – but not the other consequences of the conflict. “We did not suffer the direct effects of the war, but we suffered indirectly because the resources that should have been invested in the maintenance of our roads and railroads had to be spent on defense and national security in other areas of the country,” he explains.
Distant from the war, Namibe became a natural destination for people fleeing the fighting, a problem that persists to this day. “We are running a program to help all the refugees we have in the province to readjust and relocate,” says Mr Xirimbimbi. “We have received refugees from other regions such as Benguela, Bie, Huambo and Huila.” In addition, Namibe’s electricity mainly comes from a power station in Huila province, which was badly affected by the conflict and has had to be repaired.
Similarly, the government has embarked on the reconstruction of the railroads and communications infrastructure, and projects to extend telephone links to the more outlying towns in the province. The governor estimates the cost of modernizing the commercial port at Namibe at almost $50 million.

Living conditions
At the same time, he is fully aware of the need to raise living conditions, improve the schools, and recruit staff for hospitals and clinics.
For Mr Xirimbimbi, this is something of a personal challenge.
“I was born in the interior of Angola and I used to live among modest people, and one of the things that touches me is people’s suffering,” he explains. “I would like to be able to contribute in the fight against poverty and misery so that every citizen has their own dignity.”
Closely allied to that view is his commitment to governing the province in an open, democratic manner. “We are introducing an American-style of government where we communicate to the population what we are doing and what we want to do,” he says.
“This is our style and it is unique in the country. We want to move forward in this way since we don’t have anything to hide from the people. We want to govern in a transparent way because we are a democratic province and this is what democracy obliges us to do.”
He adds that the people became very discouraged during the war, but now “the population has begun to be more hopeful about the future”.