Menongue – At least 12 national and foreign investors, representing seven companies, are working in Cuando Cubango province to implement the memoranda of understanding signed at the First Okavango Region Investor Forum, which took place in the city of Menongue in January this year.
The chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Agency for the Management of the Okavango Region (ANAGERO), Rui Lisboa, said to the press on Monday that the investor´s delegation is in Cuando Cubango to carry out field works for setting investment limits, adding that the investors will as well do necessary studies to draw up final projects, mandatory procedures included in the investment guide.
He informed that afterwards the projects will be submitted to Angola's Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX) so that investors can have legal benefits in light of the investment law.
“We are here to consult with the Cuando Cubango provincial government and then move on to carry out the field work, starting on Wednesday 22 May”, he said.
According to Rui Lisboa, the companies are requesting that the legal issues relating to the allocation of investment concepts be dealt with, emphasising that there are companies interested in making investments in the municipalities of Calai, Dirico and the regions of Luengue/Luiana and Mucusso.
He explained that most of the companies are interested in building lodges, although some are to invest more in integrated projects and in addition to the accommodation infrastructure they will also invest in agriculture to support food needs.
“Now is the time to work on materialising our intentions, which means meeting all the requirements laid down by law. We hope to lay the foundation stones for the construction of lodges in some regions later this year. The companies are well advanced, they have already mobilised financial capital, they just need the government to grant the spaces to make the investment”, he said.
Regarding the role of AIPEX in the whole process, ANAGERO's CEO explained that this institution has central responsibility for attracting investment for all private projects which, once registered, companies can apply for and benefit from the investment law.
He announced that the visit to the areas for the implementation of the investment will take place from the 22nd to the 30th of this month, with the integration of the Geographical and Cadastral Institute of Angola (IGCA), for the delimitation of the spaces in the locations already identified, as well as companies specialised in carrying out environmental impact studies.
According to the official, the national parks of Luiana, Luengue and Mavinga represent the main wildlife sanctuaries, so in order to develop ecotourism, thought must also be given to creating favourable conditions for them, so that they can be easily integrated into the region's tourist destination.
He therefore argued in favour of drawing up management plans for these parks and mapping out areas of tourist interest, in order to quickly attract investors who are very keen to invest not only in the parks, but also in other areas of the Okavango region.
The official considered Namibia's experience in the Namibian implementation to be important, as it is a tourist route that, in addition to Angola, includes other member countries of the regional initiative
In addition to Angola, the Okavango/Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area Project includes Botswana and Namibia. MS/FF/PLB/MRA/DOJ
