Designed to handle 747 jumbo passenger jets, the Namibe airport boasts fully-modernized facilities.

In January 2001, the Angolan Minister of Public Works and Urbanization Antonio Goma announced that his ministry would make the rehabilitation of infrastructure a priority. He said bridges, airports and urban infrastructure–especially electricity networks and sewage–are at the top of the agenda.
Mr. Goma made the announcement at the Luanda International airport before heading to the province of Namibe on a fact-finding mission headed by the Ministry of Territory Administration. No doubt he chose Namibe because of the province’s modern and well-maintained infrastructure that serves as an example to the rest of the nation.
Improving the province’s supply of drinking water is high on the list of Namibe’s infrastructure successes.
Officials in Luanda are well aware that Namibe has sorted out the problems facing other provinces concerning potable water and are eager to repeat Namibe’s success throughout the country.

Namibe Governor Salomao Xirimbimbi says the water in his province is extracted from the subsoil just like bottled water and is analyzed and treated 24 hours a day through an automated quality-control system. “The
water is pumped into the network and the treatment begins straight away,” he explains.
The method has reduced acute illnesses and deaths deriving from poor drinking water by an amazing 99.8% over the nearly two years of Mr. Xirimbimbi’s governorship.
“The successful resolution of the water problem is the pride of both Namibe and the Angolan government,” the governor notes. “There still remain some problems in the rural areas, but we are working on those and they will be fixed in the near future. All the hygiene problems have been resolved in the cities, where good water is vital for the tourism industry.”
Visitors flying into Namibe’s airport, which is located just seven kilometers from the capital, are often pleasantly surprised to discover how modern the facilities are. State-of-the-art air navigation systems also make it one of the safest in the region. After the Luanda International Airport, the one in Namibe is the country’s most important civilian airport and can handle large aircraft, including the Boeing 747 Jumbo passenger jets.

Upon leaving the airport, visitors will be impressed by Namibe’s well-maintained network of paved roads that link the capital to the province’s main cities of Tombwa, Lucira and Lubango, Angola’s fifth largest urban area with some 105,000 inhabitants.
“We have very good road infrastructure,” Mr. Xirimbimbi is proud to point out. “People can travel by car from Namibe to the province of Huila and from Huila to South Africa without a bit of trouble.”
Projects to boost commercial activity are currently underway at Namibe’s bustling Atlantic harbor, the third most important in terms of traffic in Angola and quickly gaining a reputation as one of the better ports in all of southern Africa.
Already a growing export center for agricultural and sea-related products, current projects include measures aimed at increasing heavy cargo and passenger transportation as well.