Lubango — At least 88,894.7 cubic meters of ornamental stones were exported by the central Huíla province in 2023 earning the Angolan state 389.3 million kwanzas, less 327.8 million than 2022, the director of the Provincial Office for Integrated Economic Development Domingos Kalumana told ANGOP Tuesday.
The reduction in revenue, Kalumana said, was due to the reduction in the export tax, which has gone from five to one percent since 2023 and that the exported figures represents a reduction of 58,924.6 cubic meters over an excess of stock on the international market.
The director announced that 35 companies in the mining sector would be setting up in Huíla over the next nine years, 26 for the exploration and processing of rocks, five for gold, as well as quartz, niobium, crushers and iron, one for each.
Huíla province currently has 33 companies operating in the mineral resources sector, 19 in the ornamental stone sector and the rest in mineral water (five), gold (four), crushers (two), sand (one), ceramics (one) and agro-minerals (one). EM/MS/DAN/AMP
