Angola's Programme to Combat the Effects of Drought in the South (PCESSA), a multi-project water infrastructure initiative valued at more than US$601 million, is approaching completion after six years of construction across the southern provinces of Cunene, Namibe and Huíla, with the government projecting water access for hundreds of thousands of people, millions of livestock and tens of thousands of hectares of irrigated farmland.
For decades, the absence of reliable water for human consumption was an acute hardship for communities across vast stretches of southern Angola. Residents were forced to share rudimentary water sources — open rainwater reservoirs known as chimpacas, artesian boreholes and hand-dug wells — with livestock of various species.
Following its launch by the Angolan government in 2019, the PCESSA represented, for the region's populations, the beginning of the end of a crisis spanning generations. The programme encompasses 12 projects distributed across Cunene (4), Namibe (6) and Huíla (2), with the primary objectives of securing water reserves for people and livestock, promoting irrigated agriculture and improving food security.
Upon full completion, which is expected shortly, the programme will deliver storage capacity of more than 600 million cubic metres of water, 405 kilometres of canal, 90,240 household connections, 330 kilometres of water-supply conduits, 3,210 public standpipes and more than 125 chimpacas.
In Cunene province, the flagship component is the water-transfer system drawing from the Cunene River at the Cafu section, with an associated 165-kilometre supply canal serving the sanas lowland zones. Also nearing completion are the Ndúe and Calucuve dams on the Cuvelai basin, together with their associated supply canals.
The programme in Cunene also includes the Hita Hita dam — previously known as Cova do Leão — and water-supply systems for the localities of Cahama, Otchinjau, Oncócua and Chitado.
According to data from the 2024 national census, the PCESSA will benefit more than 610,000 people in Cunene province out of a total provincial population of 1,806,417. The programme will also provide water for 522,000 head of livestock and irrigation for 91,800 hectares of agricultural land across the municipalities of Ombadja, Cuanhama, Namacunde, Cuvelai, Mupa, Cafima, Nehone, Cahama, Curoca and Chitado.
Total water storage for Cunene is projected at 245 million cubic metres, covering the needs of residents, livestock and agricultural activity, while substantially mitigating the chronic drought conditions that have long plagued the region.
The Cafu water-transfer system, inaugurated in 2022 under the PCESSA, has already provided water access to 235,000 people and 250,000 animals and enabled irrigation of 5,000 hectares of farmland. Smallholder farmers and participants in field-school programmes are currently producing vegetables and other horticultural crops within the Cafu perimeter.
Alongside the Cafu system, the Ndúe and Calucuve dams — whose construction contracts were awarded in late October 2021 — are in the final stages of execution and are expected to become operational during the course of this year.
Data from the Ministry of Energy and Water (MINEA) as of May 2026 show that the two dam projects carry a combined value of more than US$601 million.
Lot 5, covering the Ndúe dam, has reached 100% physical completion and 99% financial execution. Lot 6, comprising the associated supply canal, stands at 99% physical completion and 100% financial execution.
Lot 3, which covers the Calucuve dam, has achieved 100% physical completion and 99% financial execution. The supply canal associated with the Calucuve dam and its 22 chimpacas stands at 86% physical completion and 80% financial execution.
In Namibe province, the dams at Bentiaba, Bero, Carunjamba, Inamangando, Giraúl and Curoca are under construction. In Huíla province, the N'Ompombo and Nhene dams are also being built.
Across all three provinces, the programme is expected to benefit 3,937,512 head of livestock and provide irrigation for 132,741 hectares of land.
The programme is overseen by the Ministry of Energy and Water and has received sustained personal attention from President João Lourenço, who has made regular visits to Cunene province in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Energy and Water Minister João Baptista Borges recently announced, during a visit to the municipality of Chitado, that the physical structures of the projects are essentially complete and are now awaiting operationalisation.
The two water projects in the Cuvelai municipality will contribute significantly to household food security by supplying water for irrigated agriculture and livestock watering.
The Ndúe dam, situated in the Cuvelai hydrological basin, is an earthfill structure 26 metres high, served by a 75-kilometre canal network and 15 chimpacas, passing through the municipalities of Cuvelai, Chissuata and Cafima.
The project, led by Sinohydro Angola, covers an area of 17.14 square kilometres, rises to 23.51 metres and has a storage capacity of 170 million cubic metres of water.
With an investment of US$192 million, the Ndúe dam will supply water to 55,000 inhabitants and 60,000 head of livestock, irrigate 9,200 hectares and has already created 591 direct jobs during construction.
The Calucuve dam is also an earthfill structure, standing 19 metres high and associated with a canal network stretching 111 kilometres, plus 44 chimpacas along the Calucuve–Ondjiva alignment.
Executed by a consortium comprising Omatapalo and Mota-Engil, the Calucuve dam reaches 29.80 metres in height and 2,270 metres in length, with a reservoir capacity of 141 million cubic metres. Its supply canal includes 40 chimpacas and an irrigated area of 2,600 hectares.
Budgeted at US$177 million, the Calucuve project is designed to supply water to more than 80,000 people and approximately 182,000 head of livestock.
During the construction of the supply canals, it was necessary to carry out river-bed reshaping works along the Cuvelai River over a distance of 130 kilometres.
The concrete-lined supply canal extends 110 kilometres from Mupa to Ondjiva, ensuring the regulated conveyance of water from the Calucuve dam to Mupa.
Combined, the canal infrastructure amounts to a total length of 240 kilometres — comprising 110 kilometres of lined supply canal and 130 kilometres of reshaped natural Cuvelai riverbed.
The PCESSA represents one of Angola's most ambitious water infrastructure programmes in recent decades, addressing a structural deficit that has constrained agricultural productivity, food security and human welfare across the country's arid south for generations.
The programme's trajectory — from its 2019 launch, through the 2022 inauguration of the Cafu system, to the imminent commissioning of the Ndúe and Calucuve dams — marks a substantial shift in the water security landscape of the region.
With physical execution on the principal structures now effectively complete, attention is turning to the operationalisation of the network, including the activation of household connections, standpipes and the full canal distribution system that will ultimately determine the programme's impact on the lives of more than 610,000 people in Cunene alone.
Source: ANGOP / Original article: https://www.angop.ao/noticias/grandes-reportagens/programa-contra-seca-poe-fim-ao-martirio-das-populacoes-do-sul-de-angola/
