Slaves in Moçâmedes, among other cities in Angola, campaigned for abolition and manumission.
During 1966-67 a major iron ore terminal was built in the coast by the Portuguese at Saco, the bay just 12 km north of Moçâmedes (present day Namibe).
The area was first explored by the Portuguese in 1785, and was claimed for Portugal by Luís Cândido Cordeiro Pinheiro Furtado, who had been sent there in the frigate Loanda by the then governor-general of Angola, Baron Moçâmedes, who also sent an overland expedition headed by Gregório José Mendes to rendezvous with Furtado.
The Moçâmedes Railway is a 907 km railway line in Angola, between Namibe (which was called Moçâmedes until 1985) and Menongue in Cuando Cubango province.