Statement by the Executive Mayor Patricia de Lille
City of Cape Town initiates formal relations with Luanda, Angola
The External Relations Policy of the City of Cape Town prioritizes an Enhanced
African Agenda wherein which we set out our vision to become a connector
with new markets in Africa. Last year the city’ entered its first Partnership
Agreement with an African city when it signed a Sister City Agreement with
Bujumbura in Burundi, and it is with great excitement that we announce the
beginning of formal relations with Luanda, Angola.
Viewed as an important investment location, Luanda is also seen as a centre
of innovation that is inspiring the next phase of exponential growth in Africa. It
is poised to move into the ‘megacity’ class as its population is expected to
grow to 10 million inhabitants within the next 20 to 30 years, making it one of
the fastest cities in Africa. It is also predicted that Luanda will be within the
140 richest cities in the world due to its oil and diamond industries.
I have recently returned from an investment tour of Luanda, Angola which I
embarked on together with CEO of Wesgro, Tim Harris. On 5 March 2015, we
travelled to Luanda where we met with a range of government officials and
hosted an Investment Networking Event which was well attended by
prominent industry stakeholders in order to encourage reciprocal investment
activities between the two cities.
The Angolan government has recently prioritized the diversification of their
economy, in order to reduce their reliance on oil. They have expressed their
interest in exploring the agriculture, infrastructure development and
manufacturing which are all sectors in which our region has a competitive
advantage.
We met with the Governor of Luanda, Angola Mr Graciano Francisco
Domingos to discuss the prospect of signing a Draft Partnership Agreement
between the City of Cape Town and Luanda.
We presented a Draft Partnership Agreement which highlights tourism, urban
infrastructure, sustainable development, arts and culture and trade and
trade and investment as possible areas of cooperation. Once the agreement
has been signed, we will undertake to create an integrated and sustainable
relationship in which expertise, research and best practices in the
aforementioned areas will be shared.
This proposal was met favourably by the Governor. Both our governments
have committed to identifying projects that we can collaborate on during
the next few months.
Cities are currently key drivers of economic growth globally, and we are
bound to experience similar challenges on our respective growth paths. We
can however change those challenges into opportunities by sharing our
experiences and in turn developing best practice.
Our investment tour also included consultations with the Angolan National
Private Investment Agency (ANIP) and the Angolan Industry Association. Both
these organizations are mandated to promote investment and trade in
Angola.
Research by Wesgro indicates that the Western Cape’s exports to Angola
have increased by 12% in 2013 reaching R 2.5 billion. Between 2003 and June
2014 a total of 9 FDI projects were recorded from the Western Cape to
Angola representing a total capital investment of R1.3 billion. We believe that
these are all indicators of a remarkable potential and we look forward to
building on this foundation.
With three direct flights between Cape Town and Luanda a week by the
national Angolan airline (TAAG), we also believe that there is an opportunity
to increase leisure and commercial tourism in both our cities. This sentiment
was echoed by the Angolan Minister of Tourism, Mr Pedro Mutindi. He was
optimistic about the effect of new tourist visa reforms which will enable South
African nationals to obtain visas directly from the airport on arrival in Luanda.
No other South African Mayor has visited Angola in the last 3 years. I have
extended an invitation to the Governor to visit our city and look forward to
receiving him once we embark on our newfound partnership. This investment
tour was only the beginning of the journey to building a thriving relationship
with Luanda and the Angolan business community.