Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of Economy and Planning, Mário Caetano João, presented, in the city of Sal, in Cape Verde, Angola’s experience with the Informal Economy Reconversion Program (PREI), to the World Bank group, during the annual meeting of the African Caucus 2023, held from the 6th to the 8th of this month.
The PREI, underway in Angola since 2020, has already allowed the formalization of 251,450 operators in the informal market, trained 49,305 traders and the micro credit, associated with the program, has already benefited 4,919 informal operators.
According to the Angolan official, it is necessary not to see the informal sector as an evil, which is why this segment must be worked on to make it grow, with training, financing, social security and the expansion of the tax base.
During his presentation, the minister said that, once the first phase is over, the sustainability stage has arrived, which involves linking the “Kwenda” Social Protection Strengthening Programs, PREI and the Production Support Program Export Diversification and Replacement of Imports (PRODESI), with a logic of municipalization of formalization services.
Mário João encouraged the World Bank to find a mechanism to finance the transition from informality to formality, within the framework of its Performance for Results Program.
“This financial instrument is used for public services, such as education and health, by providing the service. As the issue of reconversion is a public service for informal economic operators, I would like to see the bank increasingly committed to this issue”, stressed the minister.
On his turn, the director of the World Bank for Angola, Albert Zeufack, congratulated the Angolan Government for the implementation of the PREI, as it is a vision that does not see informality as an evil, but rather an economic activity, lacking authorities’ attention to empowering informal economic agents for their transition to formality.
Albert Zeufack said that the work carried out by Angola is excellent, because it understands, in addition to the fiscal aspect, the importance of supporting the informal sector, in increasing its productivity, through its training, financing and reducing bureaucracy.
The annual high finance event, African Caucus 2023, brought together African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Central Bank Governors, together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (GBM).
During the three days of work, documents were produced that will serve as an instrument of dialogue between the continent and the Breton Woods institutions during the next 6 months.
Among the documents is the memorandum on new modalities and mechanisms to finance economic development in Africa. This is the main dialogue tool between the Caucus and the President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, and the Director General of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva.
Also from the 2023 Caucus came Sal’s declaration, which reflects the points raised by the memorandum, namely the call by African countries to the Breton Woods Institutions to help guarantee the sustainability of the public debt, to unlock climate and energy financing, as well as the help drive private sector development.
Caucus members also called on the World Bank Group to support a new global financial architecture, marked by lower interest rates and greater availability of resources for developing countries.
The Caucus also calls for, in the context of the World Bank Group’s evolution, to strengthen and scale the response to eradicate extreme poverty, address global challenges, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, serving all client countries.
Another point mirrored in Sal’s declaration is the need for countries to mobilize their own resources in favor of renewable energies and environmental resilience.
Angola, at the 2023 African Caucus annual meeting, was represented by a delegation led by the Minister of Economy and Planning, Mário Caetano João, accompanied by the Secretary of State for Budget and Public Investment, Juciene de Sousa, and by the Angolan ambassador in Cabo green, Julia Machado.
The African Caucus is a relevant preparatory meeting for African member countries, aimed at cohesive and effective participation in the annual autumn meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions.
Established in 1963, the African Caucus has as its main objective to provide the African governors of the World Bank Group (GBM) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with a mechanism for coordinating and harmonizing their actions, in order to effectively safeguard the interests of the countries. members with the Bretton Woods institutions.
Cape Verde was chosen over a year ago to chair and host the 2023 African Caucus, succeeding Morocco, which hosted the event in 2022.
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