On Sunday 22 May, an Italian ship, the “Santa Francesca” left the port of Lobito, a town in Angola, with a cargo of 17 tons of bananas headed for Portugal. This was the first shipment of Angolan bananas headed to Europe in 42 years, Angolan national radio (RNA) reported.
The head of the Fazenda Agro-Industrial Bacilin in Culango, Benguela province, Eduardo Rodrigues told RNA that after inspections and quality certifications in Angola and at the destination, everything was ready for Angola's first banana exports to Europe.
Angola, which once produced 160,000 tons of bananas per year, with Benguela the main focus of production, is now exporting bananas from Benguela once again, 42 years after the last shipment.
