China’s Exim bank to fund Cabinda Port

LUANDA, January 25, 2017 – The head of Angolan sovereign wealth fund FSDEA on Tuesday revealed that the Export-Import Bank of China will lend the country USD 600 million for the construction of a new port at Cabinda.

Jose Filomeno dos Santos, the fund’s chairman, told Bloomberg in an interview that FSDEA will also put USD 180 million toward the project, in exchange for a 50% stake in the port operator Caioporto.

The port itself is set to increase capacity in Cabinda, the oil-producing Angolan province hemmed in by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo, significantly.

In 2016, the existing structure handled 16,700 containers according to the company that manages it, Empresa Portuária de Cabinda. Angola has suffered significantly from the oil price crash, and is pushing to diversify its economy away from oil.

The first phase of the new facilities will add a 630-metre container terminal, storage and ship-repair facilities, and a freezone. Construction of this phase is set to be complete in the second half of 2017, and will be carried out by a Chinese construction company.

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