Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, defended, within the scope of the strategic partnership, greater North American private investments with a view to diversifying the economy and industrializing the country.
In an interview given to the Public Television of Angola and released yesterday, as part of the United States/Africa Summit, to be held from 13 to 15 December in Washington, João Lourenço highlighted the fact that the investments of United States directed to Angola and the Continent to privilege more the Defense sector and, above all, energy security consubstantiated to the production and exploitation of oil and gas.
“The message that we will take President Biden to the Washington Summit is that we would like to see greater US private investment in the country, to help us industrialize and diversify the economy”, said the Head of State, recognizing that Angola and remaining states on the African continent are still poorly industrialized.
The Head of State considered “excellent” the relations with the United States of America, and guaranteed that Angola already carries out with “quite seriousness” investments in energy infrastructures, to guarantee the industrialization of the country.
He underlined that with the contribution of the US Government, the Angolan Government is working to cover the country with electricity from clean sources, with emphasis on photovoltaics. He also mentioned the effort to build more infrastructure in Education and Health, as a priority for the second term.
In this respect, he made it known that the Executive will carry out more actions in the field of roads.
Mid-term results at the Washington Summit
The Head of State said he hoped that the United States/Africa Summit, which next December will discuss the future of the African continent, in a face-to-face meeting between President Joe Biden and several African statesmen, will bring results in the medium and long term and not just be more an event.
At the international event, President João Lourenço promises to persuade the US Government to invest more and more in Africa, bearing in mind the great potential of the continent, in the most varied sectors.
“What we are going to say to President Biden is that America must bet more on our continent, because Africa has a very large economic potential”, said the Head of State, adding that with the situation of the war in Ukraine, it is an ideal moment to start looking at the continent with different eyes.
João Lourenço reaffirmed that Angola is against any war on the Planet, not only because it is a member and knowledgeable of the Charter of the United Nations, but, above all, because it has already been the victim of an armed conflict that destroyed the country. “We are well aware of the consequences of the war, we had our country destroyed, with a lot of human losses, displaced persons, refugees. For that reason, we do not wish this on anyone. Wars only bring misfortunes. We have always defended the immediate end of the war that is currently taking place in Europe between Russia and Ukraine”, referred the Head of State, for whom the authorities of both sides must sit at the negotiating table so that the conflict is resolved as soon as possible, “before it is too late”.
Still on the war in Ukraine, the Head of State said that Angola’s position has already been publicly manifested several times in various international forums, and the same will be, once again, reiterated at the Washington Summit.
For the international event, which will foresee a better future for the cradle continent, the Head of State said that Angola will take up themes such as its position in relation to the war between Russia and Ukraine, the world food crisis and climate change.
João Lourenço defended greater investments in different environmentally friendly sources of electricity, in addition to the traditional ones that consume carbon.
To combat the global food crisis, the President of the Republic defended greater investments in agriculture on the continent, and in particular in the country. He recalled, by the way, that Angola has “abundant” arable land, good climate, water, but needs capital and technological knowledge to, like Brazil, be able to export agricultural products to the largest consumer markets in the world.
Combating corruption had to do with the need to do justice
The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, highlighted, during the interview, that the need to do justice and repair Angola’s image in the international community, was what motivated him to move forward with the fight against corruption and impunity.
He recalled, by the way, that Angola was known for two negative issues, namely the war that, fortunately, was left behind and, now, is working to eliminate corruption and impunity. “The war was resolved. Now, little by little, we are solving the problem of corruption and impunity”, stressed João Lourenço.
In the interview, which lasted approximately one hour, President João Lourenço admitted that the courage to carry out the fight against corruption has its consequences. “There are those who came to interpret that I created a division within the party, but that is not what happened”, he said, stating that people involved in corruption do not represent a “big slice” in the party.
João Lourenço continued, adding that there were those who saw in this fight against corruption the predictable defeat of the MPLA, which also did not happen, as you can see. “The MPLA won the elections and we will continue to work”, he stressed. “We cannot say that corruption no longer exists, because it still exists, but on a smaller scale. However, the challenge is great”.
“I could have opted for a comfortable position, and continued the situation I found, but if I did, I would be doing a very bad service to the country, since, the money from corruption would serve for development, taking into account that resources are always scarce”, he stressed. He referred, in this line of thought, that, no matter how much riches a country has, above all to meet social issues, such as education and health, or make investments in infrastructure, money is never enough.
As an example, he indicated that of the recovered assets, financial and not only, it was possible to start with the Integrated Plan of Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM), with a value of 2 billion dollars. With this amount, the State has made important investments, which allow giving another life to the municipalities.
Best business environment
President João Lourenço reaffirmed that the Executive, under his leadership, is creating policies to create a better business environment to strengthen the private sector.
He said, in this regard, that he believes that the solution to the high unemployment rate that afflicts the country lies in the private sector of the local economy, “where we will definitely find the solution to this problem”.
He referred that the State continues to provide employment in the Civil Service, especially in the Social, Education and Health sectors. The State has carried out public tenders, with high numbers, but even so, employment cannot be found only in these two sectors. “It somehow reduces unemployment, but it doesn’t solve it”, said João Lourenço.
The solution is to have more and more companies in the private sector, more industry and factories, he said. “We need to industrialize the country. But it is the private sector that makes the industry, and the other way of contributing to the increase in employability is to attract foreign direct investment”, he said, adding that with foreign direct investment, “we are going to diversify the economy and, consequently, give jobs to citizens”.
Local Authorities
With regard to the August 24 elections, President João Lourenço made it known, once again, that they were not local or municipal, but general. This means, he said, that whether you win the general election or you lose, the results in each province or municipality do not count. “This only contributes to, at the end of the day, determining your victory or not”, he punctuated.
“We didn’t lose, maybe we won fewer deputies than has been the habit in these provinces. If we are afraid that when local authorities are instituted, we will have bad results, no. The party will have to fight to have good results in all the municipalities where local authorities take place”, he promised.
The President of the Republic recalled that it has not yet been defined whether the autarchies will take place in the 164 municipalities or in phases. He explained, by the way, that, when it is defined, “the party has to fight to win with as many numbers as possible”.
He referred that due to the fact that he lost Luanda, his party does not worry so much, as these are different elections. “When the municipal elections are held, it will be the party’s obligation to be concerned with all municipal elections, regardless of whether they are in the capital or not”, concluded President João Lourenço.
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