Luanda — The Angolan government wishes to asphalt 4,000 kilometres of road by the year's end, with the aim of establishing road linkage between provincial capitals and connect Angola to main production centres of the African continent, Wednesday here informed the speaker of the National Assembly (Parliament), Roberto de Almeida.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2nd African Congress of Roads, the parliament speaker considered the achievement of this goal is essential, since that the expansion of roads will enable economic and cultural interchange amongst all Africans.

According to Roberto de Almeida, Angola aims at becoming an important point of passage from South to North and from the Atlantic to the Indian oceans, therefore the Angolan government included the large African goals in its strategies, based on uniting the continent through roads.

"There is a need to create good roads to ease the circulation of goods and capitals, turning investment in economic and social infrastructures less troublesome, as well as facilitate interchange between Africans and enable the emerging of industry development and progress", stressed the official.

On the other hand, Roberto de Almeida assured that for a broad production of basic agricultural and industrial goods there is need for an efficient distribution network capable of placing products in the internal market and transport them to ports and then export the surplus.

Although the financial efforts and the great use of manpower represent an excellent work, he supported, it is still essential to double efforts because everything that is being done shall bring about future benefits capable of showing the world that Africa is the continent of the future and not going backward.

Public Works ministers of various African countries, representatives of road management nstitutions of the continent, as well as exports of the sector from other parts of the world are attending the 2nd African Congress of Roads to analyse technologies, investments and other topics relating to roads in Africa.

The Angolan parliament speaker reminded that in 1975, year of independence, the country had about 8,000 kilometres of asphalted roads, and in 2005, active start of the programme for the definitive recovery of road infrastructures, this heritage was still almost totally destroyed.

Meanwhile, the government outlined a programme of recovering road infrastructures so as to combat hunger and poverty and giving back to Angolans the possibility of practicing agriculture, its main source of income, as observed until 1975, when over 70 percent of the population depended on the field.