Luanda, ANGOLA, March 4 - The National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), BP Angola and partners Wednesday in Luanda signed an additional financing agreement of 6.1 million US dollars to clear 135 hectares in the province of Benguela.,

This is a project to be carried out by the international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) "Halo Trust".

The financing, which will benefit the “100 women in Demining” project, launched in 2017, will enable 129 people to be employed, of which 100 are female, living in mine-affected communities.

The idea is that the financing also serves to train women in health, mechanics, logistics, finance and information technology techniques.

The amount results from a contribution set at 60 percent of BP's own funds (equivalent to USD 3.6 million).

Within the framework of the same initiative, the Angolan State contributed 40 percent equitably, via Blocks 18 and 31 (for a total of USD 2.6 million).

At the event, BP Angola's regional chairperson, Stephen Willis, highlighted the involvement of rural women in the project, as well as stressing that the agreement aims to eliminate landmines in Benguela province by 2023 and allow the mined areas to be ready for agriculture.

ANPG's administrator, Natasha Massano, reiterated the sector's participation in reinforcing social responsibility investments, foreseen in the production sharing contract, in addition to contributing to social stability and development.

For the director of the project of "Halo Trust", Ralph Legg, the understanding will allow to clean 53 percent of fields still mined in Benguela.

The advisor to the National Interministerial Commission on Demining and Humanitarian Aid (CNIDAH), Adriano Gonçalves, highlighted the contribution of these State partners, informing that the country still has 90 million square meters of landmine areas.

According to the official, to clean up this space, the Government needs about USD 200 million.

The Government of Angola signed an agreement with the Ottawa Treaty on landmines, in which it made a commitment to eliminate mines in the country by 2025.

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