CAPE VERDE WILL DELIVER POZZOLAN EXPLORATION IN SANTO ANTÃO TO CIMPOR

The Portuguese cement company Cimpor will start pozzolana exploration on the Cape Verdean island of Santo Antão within 18 months, in an investment of 341 million escudos, according to the agreement signed and is expected to generate around 100 direct jobs.

The deadline is established in the draft of the concession contract for exploration of pozzolana between the State of Cape Verde and Cimpor that was signed in the city of Porto Novo, defining that in the next 30 years the Portuguese company will be able to explore the existing pozzolana deposits in the area of the Fundão cemetery for the production of pozzolanic cement.

The exploration will cover an area of 108 hectares for the production of around half a million cement, but with a potential of around 790 hectares, and around 4.7 million tons of production.

For the Cape Verdean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Olavo Correia, who accompanied the signature by videoconference from the city of Praia, this is an “important step” towards promoting the economic dynamics of the island further afield. north of Cape Verde.

“Concretely, this concession will make it possible to create conditions for the production of cement in Santo Antão with pozzolans to serve the Cape Verdean market and, perhaps, for the international market”, projected the official, understanding that the factory will have a “ very big impact” in terms of externalities for the entire civil construction sector.

Considering that the project has “enormous potential for growth”, generating more jobs and income for young people, Olavo Correia said that the Government will do everything to ensure that exploration starts before the expected 18 months.

Cited by Inforpress, the administrator of Cimpor, João Brito e Cunha, guaranteed that within 18 months the production unit will be operating, generating, at first, “more than 40 direct jobs”.

In addition to the installation of new equipment, Cimpor also plans, in this first phase, to invest in the installation of a photovoltaic plant, to power the production unit and support the communities.

For the Portuguese cement company, “this is a crucial investment for the development of its activity”, as well as “for the growth of the local economy”.

Present in Cape Verde since 2005, Cimpor claims to be a leader in the cement, glue cement and steel market, and assumes the production of concrete and aggregates as a priority, having invested more than six million euros in the installation of two new plants crushing plant and two new concrete plants on the islands of Santiago and Sal.

The company is currently owned by one of the main economic groups in Turkey (Oyak) and after this acquisition, the president of Oyak Cimento, Suat Çalbiyik, met, in February 2020, in Praia, with the Cape Verdean Prime Minister verdiano, Ulisses Correia da Silva, conveying the company's interest in diversifying its investments and business in Cape Verde.

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