Angola will continue to invest in the telecommunications sector with the construction of more satellites and other infrastructure, president João Lourenço has said.
After inaugurating a new Satellite Control and Mission Centre, located in Funda, in Luanda province, Lourenço reaffirmed the “extreme importance” of telecommunications projects and guaranteed that “financial capacity will be found” to ensure they go ahead.
“This centre can host up to three satellites; the other two will have to be acquired over time, it is a question of programming,” he said.
“If there is no capacity today, there will be tomorrow, what counts is the intention to complete the project, it is not complete and we have assumed the commitment to complete it no matter how long it takes.”
Lourenço recalled that in terms of fibre optic technology, an investment had already been made that currently made it possible to link Angola to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo by cable.
“With the recent launch of Angosat-2 and its entry into operation, Angola gains from every point of view,” he said.
“We will improve our telecommunications, the media, voice and imaging will also be improved, and agriculture and science in general and education will benefit from this important project,” he said.
Last October, Angola successfully launched Angosat-2, a satellite manufactured in Russia, from Kazakhstan. It was the second device built for Angola, after the first, Angosat-1, failed in December 2017.
The Satellite Control and Mission Centre was built over an area of 6,617 square metres and has 47 compartments equipped with technical and technological resources, with the capacity to ensure satellite tracking, monitoring and exploration, according to Angola’s national news agency Angop.