By Zoe Eisenstein

LUANDA (Reuters) - Angola is modernising its port in Luanda in a bid to relieve congestion for oil tankers and other ships and hopes to develop it into a regional hub for other African nations, its transport minister said on Thursday.

"The government's ambition is to transform the port of Luanda into a regional harbour that can respond not only to the economic needs of our country but to help neighbouring countries too," Minister Andre Luis Brandao told Reuters.

An oil-fuelled economic boom has strained port facilities in Luanda, the country's capital and largest city. The port has four terminals and 2,738 metres of docking space, not enough to meet the increasing traffic in oil and other goods.

Ships often face long waits in the harbour while workers prepare landing bays.

Three other ports at Lobito, Malongo and Namibe can handle heavy cargo, but the government sees modernisation of the current Luanda port and the eventual construction of a new facility closer to the city as critical.

Ports were neglected and sometimes attacked during a 27-year civil war that devastated Angola's economy. The conflict ended in 2002, helping to trigger a period of double digit economic growth in the southwestern African nation.

Attending a ceremony to mark the handover of the concession for the port's container terminal to a joint venture, Brandao said waiting times had been cut and that less than a dozen ships were now waiting to unload goods, compared with 25 in January.

"The port of Luanda has already substantially reduced the number of boats waiting. It's not a bad achievement, but we want to reduce that figure more -- that's the government's strategy," Brandao said.