ANGOLA has urged Zambia to take advantage of the short distance and buy oil from that country instead of getting the commodity from the Middle East.
Angolan Secretary of State for External Relations, Augusto Manuel said his country had abundant oil and saw no reason for Zambia to go as far as Saudi Arabia to procure the commodity.
He was speaking at the Zambia-Angola Investment Forum at Taj Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka yesterday.
Mr Manuel said it was important for Zambia and Angola to cement the already warm relations by increasing business transactions.
The two countries should build infrastructure for the benefit of the two peoples, he said.
“We in Angola have a lot of oil, huge reserves and it does not make sense for Zambia which is our neighbour to be going to get the same oil from Saudi Arabia. We are currently building a big refinery in Angola and we are also committed to putting up a pipeline linking the
two countries.
“So instead of going to buy from Saudi Arabia, Zambia should buy from Angola. Access to the port for Zambia is nearer in Angola at Lobito than anywhere else,” he said.
Mr Manuel said Zambia and Angola were both heavily involved in construction and that it would be important for the two countries to partner in improving infrastructure.
He said his country had made significant strides in construction of Benguela Railway, which would link the two countries through Luau in Angola and Mwinilunga in Zambia.
“We shall be reaching Luau in December this year and this rail line will be important as it will also link the two countries to the Congo DR and help boost trade and investment,” he said.
Commerce, Trade, and Industry Deputy Minister, Keith Mukata said the construction of the Benguela rail line would improve trade between the two countries as well as work towards achieving regional integration.
“The Benguela Railway will improve relations between the two countries as well as transportation of goods.
“It is encouraging that the railway on the Angolan side will reach the border by next year,” he said.
He said trade between Zambia and Angola was low and that the signing of the bilateral agreement would go a long way in improving trade statistics.
[Times of Zambia]
“It is encouraging that the railway on the Angolan side will reach the border by next year,” he said. BWANA MINISTER, YOUR FRIEND MR AUGUSTO MANUEL WAS GIVING FACTS AND TIME SCALES. YOUR COMMENTS AREN’T GOOD ENOUGH IF YOU DON’T TELL THE PEOPLE WHERE THIS GOVERNMENT STANDS. BY THE WAYS DOES THE ANGOLAN FOREIGN SECRETARY NEED TO TELL YOU HOW CHEAP IT WOULD TO TRADE WITH ANGOLA IN OIL? THIS IS JUST COMMON SENSE. WE NEED THAT RAIL LINE AND THE PIPELINE PRONTO. WE NEED TO KNOW WHEN THESE PROJECTS WILL COMMENCE SINCE MR MANUEL HAS NOW TOLD YOU THAT ITS CHEAP-WHICH YOU DID NOT KNOW YOURSELVES. WAKE UP YOU GUYS, WHATS WRONG WITH ZAMBIAN MINISTER. IS THIS ALSO ROCKET-SCIENCE, SURE? REALLY, DO YOU NEED SOMEONE TO DRUM IT INTO YOUR HEADS THAT THIS IS CHEAP OIL?
Spot on. Our minister seems to be coming out shallow. This is why Zambia lags behind.
Here is a neighbour offering help!!! And I thought this was the whole idea for Sata to send KK to Angola. Let’s put a good plan for this activity.
The cost of buying from Angola would be higher than
from middle east, thats why we buy from Saudi Arabia.
No you are wrong. We bought from Middle East because Angola was in civil war. Hence Indeni was designed to refine oil from the Middle East.
Man, do your research before you blog about things you do not know. Simple arithmetics, which would be cheaper, importing the same from a country that’s 7000+ kilometers or 5 kilometers from us. Your reasoning leaves much to be desired, but unless of course, you were getting a commission from dealing with Saudi Arabia. Angola had a civil war before, but now they don’t. It’s just common sense to buy oil from them.
#3 can you provide us with facts or figures.
Unless Angola offers bribes to govt officials, Zambia will continue to buy elsewhere. It does not matter that Angola could be cheap or more convenient. It is all about corruption.
# 3Msana. No you are wrong. We bought from Middle East because Angola was in political turmoil – not independent and later in civil war. Indeni was built in the 1970s. It was designed to refine oil from the Middle East.
Lok here, we can build another efinery configured to process Angolan oil. That is all we need, and fuel will be much cheaper in Zambia. Another option is to import refined products from the Angolan refinery. We already do that when Indeni shuts down. e.g in 1999-2001 Indeni was down due to a fire and Zambia imported oil from RSA, Tanzania and Kenya.
The deputy Minister sounds a bit shallow.
I am impressed by teh Angolan envoy. He seems to be on teh ball. No wonder Angola is advancing better than even Nigeria, which has more oil but imports most of the refined petroleum products. that is the epitom of corruption, disorganisation and mismanagement of yourselves and your resources.
Mukata is wrongly placed…….
It makes economic sense even if it means that a new refinery would be built closer to Angola . However, I feel that as usual we look at the short term and thus the pain of ever increasing costs of Middle East oil will have to be passed on to us the poor consumers. I smell cartels ala Indeni/ Tazama. Surely why continue will expensive feedstock when you can get cheaper. I agree that in the past because of instability in Angola it was not possible but what is the excuse now?
mwansa wanzili? As has been pointed out put some meat on that bone !
you chaps also know that angolan produces sweet crude! which is mostly used for petrol/or jet fuel , the Saudis produce a mixture that has a higher content of diesel which we on the copper mines , on the farms and most other heavy industries in zambia use. so don’t expect radically changes in price thou pre produced oil trade with angola is a must .
I believe some of you need to do a bit more research into the oil industry
Could it be that Angolan oil is the heavy oil type that has a high sulfur content and therefore not suited for the configuration of Zambia’s Indeni refinery? All oils are not created equal and that could be a good reason why zambia is still sourcing from the Middle East.
@3 Msana WaNzili you are totally wrong, why Zambia used to get Crude Oil from Kuwait and Saudi, was due to continues Civil war we had on the Continent. Now that Angola has stabilized, I don’t see the reason why we should but from the Middle East. It will be cheaper even to pump refined Fuel. Let the 2 Countries work together. More over Angola can supply most African Countries. VIVA SATA & SUPER KEN, let fuel price go down in Zambia.
This is really interesting! I don’t think you’ve considered what happens day to day, but still a good post.