Sogester (Sociedade Gestora de Terminais), a joint venture between Dutch APM Terminals and the Angolan pension fund Gestao de Fundos, has signed a concession contract for the port of Namibe in Angola.

The 20-year concession contract involves the operation, maintenance and development of the port. The firm will invest in equipment, infrastructure, training, safety, and processes to improve productivity and increase the number of vessel calls and volumes going through Namibe as part of the port master plan.

Richard Mitchell, Managing Director of Sogester, stated:

We look forward to creating higher levels of productivity, safety and efficiency to help grow Namibe and the broader regional market through a more competitive port.

Sogester also operates a container terminal in Luanda (Angola.). The 20-year concession agreement to operate the country's main container terminal was signed on 31 July 2007. The JV took over management of container terminal at the port of Luanda on 5 November 2007.

The Port of Namibe, which is one of Angola's 3 major ports, including Luanda and Lobito, has a 480 m berth and a 274 m berth that handle both containers and general cargo. As the only port in Southern Angola, the Port of Namibe is in a strong commercial position with a growing population. Equally important, Namibe is ideally located to some of the finest quality marble and granite sourcing in the world.