Angola has secured $628million in international financing to fund the second phase of the Quilonga Grande Water Supply Project.
The initiative aims to deliver reliable treated water to roughly five million residents across Luanda and Icolo e Bengo.
Standard Chartered arranged the financing, serving as export credit agency coordinator, structuring bank, sole bookrunner and mandated lead arranger.
The French state backed the deal through Bpifrance Assurance Export, with additional refinancing support from French public development bank Sfil.
Empresa Pública de Águas de Luanda is implementing the project under Angola’s Ministry of Energy and Water.
Opaia Group is participating through its construction arm, joining a consortium alongside Casais Construction, CNT Bau and GAUFF Engineering.
Quilonga Grande is designed to draw water from the Kwanza River, channelling it through new treatment plants and reservoirs.
Once complete, the system will produce and transmit up to 518,000 cubic metres of treated water daily.
Angola’s Ministry of Energy and Water says the project has reached roughly 55 per cent physical completion so far.
Officials expect water to begin flowing to households by the end of 2026, a milestone years in the making.
The expansion should deliver around 350,000 new household connections across eight municipalities, including Cacuaco, Viana and Catete.
World Bank data show basic drinking water access in Angola climbed to about 58 per cent of the population by 2022.
That figure still trails averages across sub-Saharan Africa and other lower middle-income countries, leaving many urban residents underserved.
The financing announcement projects more than 1,500 direct construction jobs will emerge from the build.
Government figures indicate hundreds of Angolan workers have already found employment on the project’s construction sites.
Officials say further distribution upgrades will still be required in fast-growing neighbourhoods such as Zango and Calumbo.
EPAL has meanwhile been instructed to boost output from existing facilities while larger projects like Quilonga Grande move toward completion.