Angola: The New Detroit?

Angola so far does not have any car producing industry, as contrasted to the major vehicle producer South Africa.  Major investing countries such as China and Germany are seeking to take advantage of the new resurgence in the country as well as the centralized oil wealth in Angola's capital, Luanda.

CSG Automovel-Angola, a new venture, is set to begin producing cars in October at a new factory in Viana, on the outskirts of Angola’s capital, Luanda. Using technology from Nissan, the plant will make passenger cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs. Expected to produce some 5,000 units in its first year, it should reach its full capacity of 30,000 within a few years.  Funded also entirely by the China International Fund, the plant will employ some 680 people, with 510 of the jobs reserved for Angolan citizens, an unusually high percentage for a Chinese project in Africa.

Volkswagen and its Angolan partner ANCAR have announced that they are to build an assembly plant in the
outskirts of Angola's capital, Luanda. ANCAR will invest US$ 48 million to build an assembly line for the production of VW and Škoda model vehicles, a central parts store, a training centre and an Angola-wide dealer network.
 
Currently Angola imports over 100,000 vehicles each year, including used cars, according to Volkswagen officials.   With an anticipated, combined production of over 50,000 vehicles in the next few years, the total output would equal more than two vehicles for every mile of paved road in the country. Plans are obviously developed to export vehicles to other countries in Southern Africa.
 
Seeing that over 70% of the Angola population still lives on less than $2 per day, the products of this new industry will be out the reach of the vast majoriy of Angolans.  (Info from Koios Associates, Emerging Markets Outlook)