Alassola an Angolan textile company based in the municipality of Benguela in Angola’s central coastal region has entered into export business by exporting its first 15 containers containing 156 toness of cotton thread to Portugal. The company has invoiced US$500,000 through the export of its first consignment recently, said company chairman Tambwe Mukaz. Such exports to Portugal textile factories will allow the company to overcome the lack of foreign currency in Angola and to import raw material and continue production.

It is for the first time since Angola got independence from the European nation, that the country has exported textile products to its former colonial master. More such yarn shipments will be sent soon, according to a report on a website dedicated to developing trade ties between China and the Portuguese-speaking world.

Alassola took over the Africa Textil factory, which was inaugurated in 1979 and went bankrupt in 2000. It recovered after a five-year long expansion and modernization process of the unit with an investment of $450 million.

It is built in a plot of 120,000 square metres and has a total construction area of 70,000 metres, employees 170 workers, five of whom are foreigners.

The industrial unit is dedicated to the production of yarns, fabrics, towels, bed sheets and blankets, pillowcases, tablecloths, napkins and other similar products.