Angola’s ambition to become a regional logistics hub must be matched by a parallel expansion of industrial capacity if the country is to generate lasting economic value, the director-general of Dubai Investments Park Angola (DIP Angola), Tiago Carneiro, said on Wednesday in Luanda.
Carneiro made the remarks during a Business Talk panel held at the Angola Hub Transport and Logistics Summit, whose second edition concluded on Wednesday after three days of sessions bringing together representatives of African governments, financial institutions, multilateral organisations, companies, investors and national and international operators.
Addressing the relationship between infrastructure, connectivity, industry and economic development, Carneiro argued that connectivity in isolation does not guarantee value creation. What is required, he said, is the coordination of infrastructure, logistics networks, suppliers and purpose-built territories ready to host productive units.
“Logistics connects markets, but value creation depends on what we are able to do from that connectivity,” Carneiro said.
He presented DIP Angola — located in the municipality of Dande, Bengo Province — as a project designed to integrate industrial, commercial and residential activities within a single development framework.
The project covers a planned total area of 2,000 hectares, with a first phase of 400 hectares comprising industrial and commercial zones, residential areas and public facilities.
Carneiro stressed that site preparation — including road access and utilities infrastructure — must precede the arrival of companies in order to facilitate the start of operations and the development of supply chains.
He further argued that the national debate on Angola’s logistics future must centre on the country’s capacity to translate connectivity into concrete activities: production, warehousing, distribution and downstream processing within Angolan territory.
The second edition of the Angola Hub Transport and Logistics Summit, which closed on Wednesday afternoon, convened over three days in Luanda and drew participants from across government, the private sector and the international investment community.
Source: ANGOP / Original article: https://www.angop.ao/noticias/economia/dip-angola-defende-ligacao-entre-logistica-e-industria-para-acelerar-economia/
