Likewise, it will be necessary to invest in shipyards for the maintenance of the growing number of ships and the formation of the embryonic nuclei of a future national naval industry, he said.

In his capacity as president and commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces, Lourenço reopened the Soyo Naval Base, in the northern province of Zaire, after important civil and technological investments.

During the years of the civil war (1975-2002), a good part of the military expenditures were dedicated to the army and the air force, recalled the head of State, who also praised the combative trajectory of the Navy, which celebrated its 47th anniversary on Monday.

After achieving peace in 2002, the State began to pay increasing attention to the need to strengthen the Navy with land infrastructures, vessels of all categories and maritime surveillance systems, he explained.

Angola has about 1,650 kilometers of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean and needs to defend its territorial waters against any possible external threat, piracy, illegal fishing and depredation of the immense marine wealth, the dignitary considered.

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