Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Economy and Planning (MEP), Mário Caetano João, highlighted the Government’s commitment to agribusiness for the diversification process of the Angolan economy, rising from 57% of participation in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2011 to around 75% in 2022.
Speaking in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA), he underlined that the contribution of agribusiness means that the non-oil sector currently corresponds to 25% of GDP.
Mário Caetano João considers that progress has been made, despite the country still being dependent on revenue: “we continue to be, at around 66%, dependent on the oil sector, and 95% on exports”.
He added that work is being done to achieve the other two indices, specifically the human assets index and the economic vulnerability index.
“Angola is still a dependent country in terms of tax revenues from the extractive sector (oil, gas and diamonds), because whenever there is some type of turbulence in international prices, the treasury feels it and, consequently, the OGE and the social sector”, he said. .
The minister stresses that in the economic sector there is a business community that is starting to gain strength, with commercial banking believing, in 2022, more in the said sector and providing more than 2 billion dollars for the most diverse activities, with a focus on agribusiness.
He recognized that Angola needs to change its paradigm more quickly, exemplifying that before independence it was built to be an export market, but, unfortunately, with the civil war, it started to become a country dependent on imports reaching the point of 95 % of goods and services consumed will be imported (…).
Assegurou estarem a alterar o paradigma do país, para deixar de ser uma operação logística de importação e distribuição, “onde não se precisar de ter as cadeias de valor e onde os segmentos não são usados, porque simplesmente os produtos que vem do exterior eram simplesmente distribuídos.
Fez saber que o Banco de Desenvolvimento de Angola (BDA) tem sido o que mais tem estado a dar crédito a economia angolana.
“A taxa de crescimento até 2020 na agricultura era de aproximadamente 1,1 e hoje temos 5%, consecutivamente”, reforçou.
Durante a entrevista, o ministro fez saber que Angola está a trabalhar com as Nações Unidas para poder apurar em que situação se encontram os três critérios para a graduação de Angola a País de Rendimento Médio.
On the other hand, he said that it takes a mature business community, a favorable business environment, for the bank to finance the entrepreneur and for him to have access to the market to be able to sell his merchandise and not have difficulties in accessing other markets.
“Next, we need the bank to be more qualified so that it can better identify the risks of the most diverse agricultural projects”, he reinforces.
The Minister of Economy and Planning also highlights the implementation of the National Plan for the Promotion of Grain Production (PLANAGRÃO), the National Plan for the Promotion and Development of Livestock (PLANAPECUARIA) and the National Plan for the Promotion of Fisheries (Planapescas 2023-2027 .
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