Luanda gets million-dollar cash injection

Angolan container terminal management company Sogester has injected US$155 million into the port of Luanda to upgrade and modernise the port’s facilities, improving safety and efficiency. Sogester (Sociedade Gestora de Terminais) is a consortium formed in 2007 to manage the terminal under a 20-year concession. The company’s assistant sales director Patrick Anderson said the capital had been spent on new equipment, including 20 trucks, four cranes, a new computer operating system and training courses for staff. He said: “We started operating in 2007 and are trying to set up conditions to make the port of Luanda more efficient.” He added that one of the problems facing Sogester was the small size of the port. Since 2007, the efficiency of the port has improved dramatically. Previously vessels were waiting up to 500 hours to berth. Now, Anderson said, they are delayed no more than 10 hours.