ANGOLA – The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Victor Fernandes, inaugurated a salt refinery with the capacity to produce 3,500 tonnes per month in the municipality of Viana in Luanda city.
The refinery was funded by a private investment of US$5.5 million and its first phase of operations began in November 2022.
According to Mr Fernandes, it currently produces about 1,000 tonnes of iodised salt and has directly generated about 50 jobs in Viana so far.
The refinery intends to distribute salt to bakeries and other industries and has a view of increasing the number of workers to 140.
Victor Fernandes appeals to other investors to support the country’s saline sector saying that they need about 100 industries but currently have only four.
“The promotion of this industry is of paramount importance because it will help primary producers supplying raw materials who now can count on this factory, with a view to refining salt with all the quality for human consumption,” he said.
The minister stressed that Angola is not yet self-sufficient in the production of refined salt, but it is in the production of primary salt, relying only on a sea coast “that never ends” and favourable climatic conditions.
The director general of the refinery Rajesh Gurbani on the other hand explained that the factory was the first major investment made in the region despite it being in the trade sector for a couple of years.
He said that the refinery’s objective was to replace salt imports with domestically produced salt.
According to him, the company has enough transport facilities to purchase raw materials from different parts of the country, with emphasis on the provinces of Bengo and Benguela.
In July 2021 Angola’s salt production was 186,200 tonnes, a 13.5% increase from the 160,823 tonnes produced in July 2020, according to data from the Association of Salt Producers and Transporters of Angola (APROSAL).
72% of this salt produced is exported to countries such as India, the United States of America and China.
The first refined salt production factory in the country was built in Benguela as it is the main salt production province.
The country currently has more than 20 salt pans in operation, distributed across the provinces of Benguela (seven units), Namibe (six) and others operating in Luanda, Zaire, Bengo, Cuanza Sul and Cabinda.
Victor Fernandes insists that the number of refinery factories in the country is not important and that what matters is the processing capacity of the factories if the country ever hopes to achieve self-sufficiency in the saline industry.
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