Luanda - The approval and start of operationalization of the Directed Self-Construction Program, which aims to reduce the housing deficit in Angola, currently estimated at 2.2 million homes, was one of the highlights of the Public Works, Urban Planning and Housing sector, in 2023.
Approved by the Economic Commission of the Council of Ministers, on May 30th, the Project includes the provision of 910,600 infrastructure land lots, intended for national citizens who wish to make the dream of owning a home come true, at the level of the 18 provinces of the country.
For the initial phase of the plan, to be implemented in the 2023-2027 period, the Angolan Government launched the pilot project for directed self-construction, on July 30 this year, with an offer of 1,300 lots, which were distributed to the provinces of Bié, with 400 lots, Lunda Sul (400) and Luanda (500 land lots).
According to the Ministry of Public Works, Urbanism and Housing (MINOPUH), the program aims to reduce the housing deficit to 49% by 2027, enabling the population to access infrastructure lots, agrovillages and fishing villages.
According to the Government, this will allow the expansion of new urban and rural centers in an orderly manner, through the implementation of spatial planning instruments, making cities increasingly stronger, inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, providing a better quality of life to citizens.
In addition, the plan aims to promote private initiatives in the construction of housing and other services, with the guarantee of legal security of ownership of the property.
Among the program's advantages are the allotment of land, based on a pre-existing project, the registration of land at the Land Registry and the issuance of contracts linked to registration, the main tools that can contribute to conveniently designing and organizing the future cities in the country.
According to the Association of Real Estate Professionals of Angola (APIMA), the implementation of the Directed Self-Construction Program represents the beginning of the urbanization process of future Angolan cities in an appropriate way.
the Association recognizes that the project allows the urbanization of cities as it should be, ceasing to make random allotments, a fact that will allow the Government to control who has already benefited from land, for example, and mitigate existing land disputes in Angola.
In addition, the creation of agrovillages will make it possible to relieve the burden of large urban centers and improve the living conditions of the population, with a more widespread population growth throughout the country.
Also in 2023, the first phase of the Teresa Afonso Gomes centrality was opened, in the city of Caxito, Bengo province, which included the construction of 80 buildings, of which 72 shops and 486 dwellings, eight of them single-storey houses.
The respective housing stock foresees, in the second and final phases, the construction of 78 more buildings of typologies T3 of four floors, making a total of one thousand dwellings, namely 946 apartments, 30 single-storey houses and 72 shops.
Budgeted at US$182.9 million, plus US$4.5 million for the inspection contract, the centrality also includes several social structures such as primary and secondary schools, a health center, a police station, a multipurpose field, a kindergarten and an 11-a-side soccer field.
The housing project is the second in the province of Bengo, after the Centrality of Capari, the first to start operating, with 4000 housing units.
In addition to the Teresa Afonso Gomes centrality, the first phase of the urbanization of Cabinda was also inaugurated, which has 470 dwellings and 72 shops, a total of 2,940 T3 houses (apartments and single-storey houses) and 180 commercial establishments.
Named after the first commander of the National Police after independence, Santana André Pitra 'Petroff', the center will have the capacity to accommodate 21,000 residents, and in the first phase will house 3,300 people.
In addition to the completion of the Bengo and Cabinda centralities, construction of similar urbanizations is also underway in Cuanza Norte, Malanje, Zaire and Cuando Cubango.
In recent years, the Angolan Government has completed 14 centralities, corresponding to 39,000 homes, built in Luanda, Benguela, Bié, Cuanza Sul, Huambo, Huíla, Namibe, Moxico, Uíge and Cunene.
Among these centralities, the Angolan capital, Luanda, is the province that concentrates most of the housing stock, namely Kilamba (the first and largest in the country), Sequele, Vida Pacifica, Zango Zero, KK 5000, Zango 5 and KM 44.
In total, the country has 24 centralities, equivalent to 85,000 homes, which are already fully sold, according to the Housing Development Fund (FFH).
The process of selling apartments in the centralities began in 2012, in Kilamba, the largest housing project in the country, with 20 thousand apartments, corresponding to 710 buildings of four, eight and 12 floors (floors) of typology T3, T3+1 and T5.
Containment program stops 200 ravines
Throughout 2023, 200 of the 742 ravines recorded across the country were stopped, under the Containment Program for this phenomenon approved by the Angolan Executive.
According to the Ministry of Public Works, Urbanism and Housing, these erosions endangered public infrastructure and homes that were at risk of collapsing.
With this intervention, centralities, roads, fuel tanks, high-voltage stations and other public and private infrastructures are safe and, above all, spaces that were previously at risk can be used for other purposes, such as directed self-construction, agriculture and manufacturing.
According to the head of this ministerial department, Carlos Alberto dos Santos, the more than 500 ravines still to be contained will be intervened in the period 2024/2025.
The project covers the provinces of Bié, Cuanza Norte, Luanda, Lunda Sul and Malanje, which will benefit from ravine containment and stabilization works, in order to ensure safety for people and property.
Road infrastructure
In terms of road infrastructure, the highlight is the start of the construction of 430 kilometers of unpaved road in Cuando Cubango, budgeted at 100 million US dollars.
The work foresees the implementation of a new technology, using a soil stabilizer, with costs and benefits for the national economy, as well as approval from the Angolan Engineering Laboratory.
Another milestone also reached in 2023 was the award of the works for the construction of several infrastructures, with emphasis on the rehabilitation of the Muconda/Samujimo Biúla section, the so-called 'forgotten National Road 240', in the interior of Muconda and Dala, Lunda Sul province.
The rehabilitation of this 169-kilometre eastern Angola corridor, of which about 70 kilometers are already levelled, is underway and will provide more than 1,000 jobs for young people.
To be completed in three years, the contract includes asphalting, with a budget of more than 162 billion and 71 million kwanzas.
This year, which is about to end, the construction of the two-way link road between Angola and Zambia was also highlighted, as part of the Lobito corridor, whose memorandum of understanding was signed as part of the visit of the Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, to Angola.
The road infrastructure has an extension of approximately 800 kilometers from Lobito (Benguela) to Luau (Moxico), on the Angolan side.
Due to the length of the road in terms of kilometers, it is estimated that the work will take three years to be completed. QCB/AC/DOJ
