Luanda – The textile company Textang II plans, from January 2025, to produce cotton on a large scale, in an area of four to 5,000 hectares, with a view to achieving self-sufficiency of this raw material in the country and meeting the needs of the Angolan market, within three or four years.
The fact was announced, on Monday, in Luanda, by the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Alcaal business group, manager of Textang II, Jorge Amaral, who considered achieving the respective target as a crucial factor in ensuring the full functioning of the textile industry in Angola.
According to the manager, who was speaking during the meeting between the Minister of Industry and Commerce and operators in the sector, the company has been testing the production of cotton seeds for three years, in Baixa de Cassanje, in Malanje, to achieve this challenge.
Along with cotton, he said that, later this year, the company will begin producing caustic soda, a raw material also used in the manufacture of fabrics, a fact that will reinforce the competitiveness of the national textile industry.
On the occasion, he highlighted that, this year, Textang spent around 2.5 million US dollars on importing raw materials to keep the factory functional.
Regarding the operationalization of the manufacturing unit, which has 250 workers, he reiterated that the manufacturing unit has the capacity to produce 10 million meters of fabric/year, but currently its production is below 10% of this capacity.
Given this scenario, he called for the need for the domestic market to unite around the fabric produced in the country, so that the factory is increasingly competitive and strong.
For his part, the Minister of Industry and Commerce Rui Miguêns de Oliveira, recalled that the Angolan State injected significant investments into the operationalization of the textile industry in the country, but current production still “does not satisfy the domestic market”.
“We are not satisfied with the current level of incorporation of local content in the clothing industry and the generation of income, as well as the creation of employment and business opportunities in the sector”, he expressed.
Therefore, Rui Miguêns de Oliveira expressed the need to increase cotton production, as it is the essential basis for making the industrial sector functional, and to accelerate fabric manufacturing in existing industrial units.
He said that, within the scope of the new Customs Tariff, the Government created the necessary conditions so that the textile and clothing industry could be protected in terms of customs taxes, with an increase in taxes on imported textile products.
This measure, he said, must be compensated with the acceleration of the textile and clothing industry at national level, so that the increase in taxes can translate into greater employability and income distribution for the country.
The meeting between the Minister of Industry and Commerce and operators in this sector aimed to reflect on themes related to the real opportunities that exist in the country's textile sector.
The challenges and perspectives of the clothing market in the country, in light of the entry into force of the new Customs Tariff, also dominated the meeting, which included the participation of the Association of Textile and Clothing Industries of Angola (AITECA), Baobab, among other operators.
Located in the municipality of Cazenga, in Luanda, Textang II was one of the State assets taken to privatization, within the scope of the Privatization Program (PROPRIV), started in 2019. QCB/VC/DOJ
