Angola's First Satellite

Angola’s first communications satellite, AngoSat-1, will be launched into orbit in November 2016 to provide telecommunication services throughout the country, announced Aristides Safeca, State Secretary for Telecommunications. This will be the first satellite operated by an African nation and will have a lifetime of 15 years.

The project contract was signed in 2009 by Angola and a Russian consortium which included- Rocket Space Corporation Energiya (RSC), Telecom-Projeto 5 and Rosoboronexport companies. The construction began in November 2013.

With an investment of over USD 403 million, Angosat 1, will provide Angola with communications and digital terrestrial services, replacing the current analogue system along with telecommunication, internet and e-government services. While 31% of the construction work has been completed, the satellite will be fully operational by the first half of 2017. (NexTv)

The Baia dos Tigres: Angola's "Ghost' Island

The Baia dos Tigres (Tigers Bay) is a small isolated and unpopulated island in the southwestern region of Angola with a land mass of 98  square kms.  As the largest and only sandy island off the coast of the 2000 km-long Namib Desert, it remains the least known coastal wetland along desert coast rich in shorebirds. 

The Island was once a thriving commercial fishing community in the Portuguese colonial era,  connected to the mainland by a small sand causeway.  The inhabitants abandoned the Island in 1974 to escape the strong wind, lack of drinking water and the transportation difficulties to the mainland.  Filled with hundreds of abandoned Portuguese-style buildings and properties, the structures are now being enveloped by the continual blowing sand.

Though the waters surrounding the island are very rich in fish stocks, the location is renown for its birdlife.  Two surveys of the Island region in 1999 and 2001 indicated a rich wetland bird diversity consisting of 25 species and a bird density of 33 birds per square kilometer. 

The Island is only visited now by adventure-seeking tourist groups. (AngoWebs - Angola) 

Angola Elected to UN Security Council

In October 2014, Angola was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for two years (2015-2016).

Foreign Affairs Minister, George Chikoti said Angolans were proud that their country received the backing of other member states for the position.  He promised that Angola would strive to make the UN Security Council more efficient and balanced.

Minister Chikoti stated that, in the area of peace and security, Angola will be promoting dialogue among nations as an essential element for a culture of peace, respect for difference and conflict prevention.

"Angola will also contribute to a more efficient identification of the causes of conflict and to the reduction of violence through preventative diplomacy, promoting African agenda and contributing to peace and security in Africa and the world" (Sonangol Universe Magazine)

Angola's Grand New City

A new city being built outside of the capital Luanda, Kilamba Kiaxi, is considered the largest social housing project & EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract in Africa and one of the newest, emergent Smart Cities. In the Kimbundu language the name means Land (Kiaxi) of Kilamba.

Built by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation, the city is designed to accommodate 500,000 people and includes 750 eight-story apartment blocks, occupying 880 hectares.

Located 20 km from the center of Luanda, the Kilamba project is the most advanced to date of the five new cities that are being built around Luanda alone and carries a price tag of $3.5bn.

Angolan officials are employing such a grand urban development scheme as a means of providing housing for the millions of Angolans who are without formal housing, 12 years after the end of the civil war.  During the war years, little social housing was built, with the result that ¾ of the 4.3 inhabitants of Luanda live in mussekes or informal settlements.

Constructing new city centers on the outskirts of existing cities is a new urban planning method employed to eliminate the difficulties involved in relocating populations who already live on development sites.

The Kilamba Kaixi buildings include 20,002 apartments and 246 shops, containing 24 (KG) kindergartens, 9 primary schools, 8 secondary schools, 2 substations, 1 sewage treatment plant and 1 water treatment plan, with primary & secondary municipal roads.  Beyond the normal municipal systems such as water supply, power supply, telecommunications, sewage, drainage, traffic signals, the original development plans entailed the integration of electronic systems to enable an Internet interconnectivity of housing and municipal systems. (Consolidated Consulting Group, African Business Magazine)