João Lourenço, concerned about the deterioration of peace and security in different parts of the world, highlighted the importance of investing in the construction of warships, “to protect the immense Angolan maritime coast”.
(DW) The President of Angola highlighted this Monday (10.07) the investments in means and shipyards, to start the construction of warships in the country, also contributing to the security and fight against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
João Lourenço, who was speaking at the celebrations of the 47th anniversary of the Angolan Navy, acknowledged that the Angolan State has made a greater investment in infrastructure and greater equipment in war resources for the army and air force over many years, due to the characteristics of its armed conflict.
“Once peace was achieved, the Angolan State began to pay increasing attention to the need to strengthen the Angolan Navy with land-based infrastructure, maritime vessels of all categories and maritime surveillance systems to protect its immense sea coast, which extends for about 1,650 kilometers,” said João Lourenço.
The Angolan head of state, who traveled today to the municipality of Soyo, Zaire province, inaugurated the Soyo Naval Base, to serve as the northern naval region and the country to display “the patrol, interception and military transport vessels, which are part of a batch of means contracted to the naval company Privinvest Shipbuilding Investiments under Presidential Order No. 258/16 of August 29, 2016”.
The presidential order referred to a batch of 17 patrol, interception and military transport vessels, including spare parts for a total amount equivalent in kwanzas to EUR 495 million.
Various investments
The Angolan President stressed that more recently the State ordered the construction of three modern corvettes and support vessels from Abu Dhabi Ship Building, and also acquired two Airbus C295 aircraft from the Kingdom of Spain, which should arrive in the country later this year, equipped for maritime reconnaissance and surveillance missions.
According to João Lourenço, negotiations are underway with the competent authority for the possibility of also acquiring naval means.
“The country must invest in more maritime bases to house these fleets that tend to grow in number and size of vessels, as well as invest in a shipyard for the maintenance of fleets and start building warships in Angola, the embryo for the Angolan naval industry,” he said.
Gulf of Guinea security
The Angolan President and Commander-in-Chief of the Angolan Armed Forces stressed that due to its geographical position Angola, together with other states in the central and southern regions of Africa, must be prepared to contribute to the security of the Gulf of Guinea, “an important maritime route for international trade”.
João Lourenço also expressed concern about the growing deterioration of peace and security in different parts of the world, starting with Africa, where terrorism and insurgencies of different motivations threaten their populations and already fragile economies.
“Some of the immediate and most visible consequences of armed conflicts are, in addition to the high number of deaths, the frightening number of internally displaced persons, refugees in neighboring countries, immigrants manipulated by human trafficking networks, the increase in hunger, disease, poverty and misery,” he said, adding that “the situation is no better in other parts of the globe” namely in the Middle East, in the conflict between Palestine and Israel, in Europe, with the war between Russia and Ukraine.