Angolan-built cars coming

Luanda - Angola plans to begin producing cars later this year through a venture funded by a Chinese firm and based on technology from Japan's Nissan, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday.

CSG Automovel-Angola, established with money from Hong Kong's China International Fund (CIF), will begin producing pick-ups, SUVs, compact cars and other vehicles in October at a factory on the outskirts of Luanda, the Jornal de Angola said.

Initial annual capacity will be 5 000 vehicles but is expected to eventually rise to 30 000, the newspaper reported. A petrol-based Paladin will be among the Nissan-style models produced.

Rebuilding after a devastating 27-year civil war that ended in 2002, Angola is keen to beef up its industrial sector as part of an effort to create jobs for its 16.5 million people and diversify a booming economy that is centred around oil and gas.

The southwestern African nation is sub-Saharan Africa's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria.

Most of the cars used in Angola are either imported, typically from South Africa, or holdovers from the days of Portuguese colonial rule, which ended in 1975.

The car factory at Viana, 28 km southeast of Luanda, also is a sign of energy-hungry China's growing presence and influence in Africa.

Trade between China and the world's poorest continent reached $55.5 billion last year, a jump of 40 percent from 2005.

Most Chinese investments were in the manufacturing, resource and construction sectors, with oil projects in Angola and Sudan among the largest items.

China's economic links to Africa, however, are raising concerns in Europe, the United States and a number of African nations that the Asian giant may seek to exploit the continent for its raw resources and stall its move toward democracy and open markets.