Africa-Press – Angola. The third edition of the “Angola Startup Summit/2024”, considered “the largest technological entrepreneurship exchange in the country”, held from the 16th to the 18th of this month, in Luanda, constitutes one of the highlights of economic news last week.
The event was attended by more than 135 startups, 20 institutional stands and 45 speakers and aimed to search for investment opportunities, through the exchange of experiences and conducting business.
Held at the Talatona Convention Center, in the country’s capital, the technology fair was attended by startups from eight provinces, including Huíla, Cabinda, Namibe, Luanda and Uíge, in addition to representatives from Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, China and Macau.
For three days, the event was marked, among several exhibitions, by the signing of cooperation agreements to strengthen the emerging business ecosystem and innovation in Angola, as well as allowing participants to debate various topics, through conferences and lectures.
Four agreements were signed, involving INAPEM, the Institute of Administrative Modernization (IMA), the Luanda Entrepreneur Academy (AEL), BFA Gestão de Activos and the Macau Entrepreneurship and Innovation Association – China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
In the end, the summit organization distinguished the technological entrepreneurs who stood out the most throughout the three days of exhibition, namely the startup “Biscateiro”, which in the Innovation category, “Mirabilis Game Studio, in the Social Impact category and “Ecomap” , which had the best participation at the fair.
In the last seven days, the agency’s news also highlighted the implementation of 17 private investment projects, valued at around US$76.4 million, in 2023, through the Agency for Private Investment and Export Promotion of Angola (AIPEX).
These are nine projects in the manufacturing industry sector, four in the field of service provision, one each in the fishing, education, civil construction and agriculture sectors.
Its implementation, mostly in Luanda, created 195 direct jobs, of which 183 for national citizens and 12 foreigners.
According to AIPEX, this result represents a significant increase compared to previous years, reflecting investors’ growing confidence in the country’s economic potential.
In addition to the completed projects, AIPEX received 31 investment intentions, totaling USD 848 million, in the first four months of this year (from January to April 2024).
This investment foresees the creation of more than five thousand new jobs, of which 90% for national citizens and 10% for expatriates.
In the tourism sector, the highlight is the inauguration of the headquarters of the Iona National Park, in the province of Namibe, with a view to beginning the reconquest of its space in the chain of tourist potential in Angola, in an investment of 11.7 million dollars north -Americans
The inauguration of this infrastructure, by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, takes place at a time when Angola seeks to place tourism at the center of attention and efforts to diversify the economy.
The Iona National Park (PNI) is in the process of being rehabilitated, to provide it with modern infrastructure, capable of offering better accommodation conditions to its users, particularly visitors.
The restoration works also aim to ensure greater conservation of biodiversity and the promotion of tourism in the country, based on the largest cross-border park in Angola, in an area of around 15 thousand square kilometers.
The park extends from the mouth of the Cunene river to the south of the municipality of Tômbwa, 470 kilometers from the coast, and subsequently follows the same river to the northern limit until the Pediva area, before continuing to the Otchifengo valley to the river Cunene.
Still in the field of infrastructure, during the week it was announced the requalification and modernization, with cutting-edge equipment, of the Angola Engineering Laboratory (LEA), from 2025, aiming to guarantee greater analysis of the material and the structural safety of public constructions.
The fact was announced by the Minister of Public Works, Urbanism and Housing, Carlos Alberto dos Santos, on the sidelines of the visit of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, to the engineering laboratory.
Among the objectives are the completion of the LEA facilities and the modernization of the different laboratories, based on the acquisition of equipment for instrumentation and observation of the behavior of major engineering works in the country.
In addition to the technical component and laboratory technology, this investment, estimated at 73.8 million euros, also includes strengthening the training of staff at this institution, which has existed for 63 years.
The aforementioned laboratory’s mission is to carry out examinations in terms of tests, inspections, tests, samples, surveys and experts, applied research in the field of civil construction, safeguarding the functionality of communication routes, bridges, materials, structures and built heritage.
Information was also echoed in the agency’s news that municipal administrations will be responsible, from 2025 onwards, for actions to contain ravines in formation, currently a task of the central government.
The measure to prevent the progression of ravines was announced by the Minister of Public Works, Urban Planning and Housing, Carlos Alberto dos Santos, during a parliamentary hearing with members of the 5th Specialty Committee of the National Assembly, on economics and finance.
In the transport sector, the rise in taxi prices made headlines, which now costs 200 kwanzas, on all routes, compared to the previous 150 kwanzas.
Along the same path, the fare for public urban public transport by road for passengers, to be applied on all routes, in the province of Luanda, also increased from 50 to 150 kwanzas, over a minimum length of 20 kilometers.
Another noteworthy fact in the last seven days is the holding of the 117th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (CPM) of the National Bank of Angola (BNA), which predicted a slowdown in the pace of growth in the prices of goods and services in the economy Angolan rate of 23.4%, as of the second half of this year.
According to the BNA, during this period, prices may register a slower pace, compared to the year 2023, which registered inflation of around 28 percent.
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), monthly inflation, last April, stood at 2.61%, with the food and non-alcoholic beverages category contributing 72%.
INE points out that the year-on-year inflation rate (April 2023) reached 28.20%, with the food and non-alcoholic beverages category contributing 68.12%.
On the same occasion, the Monetary Policy Committee (CPM) decided to increase the BNA Rate from 19% to 19.5%, with a view to strengthening control over the circulation of currency in the national economy.
In addition to this rate, the CPM decided to increase the coefficient of mandatory reserves, in national currency, from 20% to 21%, as well as maintain the interest rate on the Permanent Liquidity Absorption Facility at 18.5%.
According to this body, the decisions were motivated by the persistence of inflationary pressures in the economy and aim to contribute to the control of liquidity in circulation.
The Monetary Policy Committee reported that Net International Reserves stood at 14.48 billion dollars in April, which corresponds to a degree of coverage of 7.43 months of imports of goods and services.
ANGOP
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
