Media frenzy over Angola’s Chinese-built ‘ghost town’
International media has recently been in a frenzy over the 'ghost town' built in Angola by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) just 30km outside capital city of Luanda.
International media has recently been in a frenzy over the 'ghost town' built in Angola by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) just 30km outside the capital city of Luanda.
Nova Cidade de Kilamba (meaning Kilamba New City) is a residential development of 750 eight-storey apartment buildings with a dozen schools, and more than 100 retail units. The US$3.5 billion development, which was built in just three years, covers 5,000 hectares and, according to reports, will be able to house about half a million people when fully completed.
According to the BBC News, nearly a year has passed since the first batch of 2,800 apartments went on sale, and only 220 have been sold. So why is this new city not attracting residents?
Critics say the property prices are way out of the affordability range of the majority of Angolans, where two thirds of the population are estimated to live on less that $2 a day. The Kilamba apartments are being advertised online between $120,000 and $200,000.
Although the apartments may be unaffordable to the majority of Angolans, the developers might find a market among the many expats and foreigners working in Angola. In this year’s Mercer's Cost of Living survey, Luanda is ranked as the second most expensive place for expatriates to live in the world. Last year Luanda – for the second year running – occupied the top position. A major reason for this is the sky-high rates charged for acceptable and secure accommodation.
“In Luanda rental prices beat records, and over there a house may cost more than US$20,000 per month,” said Mercer’s Marie-Laurence Sépède in a statement last year.
China’s economic presence in Angola
It is no secret that China has a significant economic presence in Angola. The term ‘neo-colonialism’ has been used and implies that Chinese investment in infrastructure and development comes with deals to exploit Angola’s resources.
Yan Lan, head of Greater China Investment Banking, said at last month’s New York Forum Africa, which took place in Libreville, that, “Africa needs money, needs financing, needs technology and also needs Chinese companies' experience for their own industrialisation.”
Despite being mineral-rich, Angola is still struggling from the effects of a civil war that came to an end in 2002. For nearly 30 years Angola fell behind in its development, affecting local industry and agricultural production, as well as damaging basic infrastructure. Now, 10 years later, the country is beginning to find its feet, but Angola needs to develop its infrastructure and Chinese investment has been doing just that.
However, while Angola needs China, China also needs Angola. Angola is China’s largest source of oil in Africa.
“China and Africa are mutually needed partners,” said Lan.