Day: June 14, 2021

China has denounced the communique issued Sunday at the end of the G-7 summit that criticized Beijing over its human rights record.

The G-7 statement called on China to “respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang, and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” referring to the 1997 agreement that switched control of the financial hub from Britain to China.

Beijing is accused of committing serious human rights abuses against the minority Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang, including the detention of more than one million Uyghurs into detention camps, widespread government surveillance and forced birth control.

The Chinese embassy in London issued a statement accusing the G-7 leaders of interfering in its internal affairs, and according to Reuters, vowed to “resolutely fight back against all kinds of injustices and infringements imposed on China.”

The statement also said an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was first detected in China’s central city of Wuhan in late 2019, should not be “politicized” in response to the G-7’s demand for “a timely, transparent, expert-led, and science-based” second probe by the World Health Organization.

Source: Voice Of America

Mbanza Kongo- The programme of the International Festival of Kongo Culture and Arts (Festikongo), 2021 edition, to be held from 01 to 08 July, includes a conference and exhibitions on Mbanza Kongo: World Heritage city.

According to the deputy coordinator of the Historic Centre Participatory Management Committee, Biluka Nsakala Nsenga, an ecumenical service is also planned, in honour of prophetess Kimpa Vita, a representative spiritual figure of the ancient Kongo Kingdom.

He explained that the conference will be held in a virtual format due to the limitations imposed by Covid-19, and should count on the participation of national and foreign specialists.

Festikongo is a recommendation made by UNESCO when Mbanza Kongo was inscribed on the list of the Cultural Heritage of Humanity, on 08 July 2017, which envisaged the holding of three consecutive annual editions, in this city.

The purpose is to foster sustainable development and unite the peoples of the Kongo cultural mosaic and beyond, as well as the exchange of experience between them in a variety of fields.

The first edition was held in July 2019 to celebrate the second anniversary of the inscription of this city by UNESCO. The second edition was expected to be held in 2020, postponed due to the outbreak and spread of the covid-19 pandemic.

Management Committee receives Kz seven million/month for improvements

On the other hand, Biluka Nsakala Nsenga informed that the Participatory Management Committee of the Historical Centre of Mbanza Kongo receives, monthly, seven million Kwanzas for maintenance and conservation works of the local cultural attributes that allowed the inscription of this city.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The launch of the process of partial alienation of Sonangol’s oil concession stakes is due to take place on Monday, at an event in which the target oil blocks will be announced.

The initiative is in line with the strategy for management, maintenance and sustainability of the Angolan company’s portfolio of oil exploration and production assets, held by the Exploration and Production Unit in several oil concessions.

Thus, today, at the official opening of the process the tender procedures, the Blocks, the respective participating interests to be sold and their data, in terms of crude potential, will be disclosed.

The event will be held at the Talatona Conference Centre, in Luanda and will also be broadcast online

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Lubango – The governor of Huíla province, Nuno Mahapi, Monday in Lubango considered the attention that the Angola Press News Agency (ANGOP) dedicates to human resources, an example to be followed by other organisations, for a better provision of the public service.

Speaking during an audience granted to ANGOP officials, in the scope of a regional training action that the capital city of the province is hosting, the governor acknowledged that this public company has always “fought” for its actions in human resources.

For the governor, to look at the constant betterment of his staff is important, and as governor, ANGOP will always count on his support.

“We have capable cadres and the media in Angola has a good structure, but it is necessary to have the courage to upgrade them constantly”, said the governor.

In his turn, the non-executive director of this public communication company, Gaspar Francisco, said that the regional training is an action that seeks to refresh the knowledge related to the Portuguese language and the writing techniques.

According to him, the bet on training is a priority of the Board of Directors that will be implemented in several stages.

ANGOP journalists attend training

ANGOP journalists from its delegations in Huíla, Namibe and Cunene, started on Monday a five-day training course on writing skills and Portuguese language.

The training programme will cover all regions of the country.

At the opening of the event, the provincial media director, Luís Garrido, stressed the importance of training in the quality of the final product.

For him, “the quality of the professionalism of ANGOP/Huíla is the result of the actions of this kind that have been carried out”, which is reflected in the good rendering of the public service, calling for the need to ally training with the new communication and information technologies”.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Menongue – At least nine hundred million Kwanzas have been made available, so far, to the Cuando Cubango province, under the credit line of the Support to Production, Export Diversification and Import Substitution (PRODESI) and covered 34 companies and cooperatives.

Of the 34 applications that received funding, 18 are companies and 16 cooperatives, totalling 69 applications for access to credit, whose monetary amounts are part of the package for development of agriculture, as well as for buying and selling locally produced products.

The information was given to the press on Monday, on the sidelines of the opening of the training and capacity building of cooperatives in management tools, by the director of the Cuando Cubango Bureau for Economic and Integrated Development, Roberto Biwango.

According to Mr. Biwango, the local government intends to encourage all agricultural cooperatives to produce more and more for exports, increase jobs and generate family income.

In relation to the five-day training, Mr Biwango said that it aimed to help the cooperatives to develop as economic units and improve the way in which they should act in the market.

The trainees are being provided with knowledge in the areas of personal management, marketing and communication, introduction to accounting, operational management and law.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Secretary of State for Mass Media, Nuno Caldas Albino, Monday in Luanda praised the role of Angolan journalists for their contribution and engagement in the consolidation of the motherland.

According to the government official, who was speaking at the opening of the 1st National Defence Course for media professionals, Angolan journalists, since independence, have promoted harmony, family reunification and the reconciliation process, among others.

He recalled that media professionals have always taken the role of vanguard and fighters in the production of news with patriotic content and awareness for the defence of the homeland.

“Journalists have been forged in the battlefields throughout the country’s history and have contributed to the transmission of positive messages of hope and confidence on behalf of the nation,” he argued.

He referred that, in the current context, the mass media cannot be exempt from the new paradigm aimed at fighting corruption, moralising society and rescuing moral and ethical values.

For Nuno Albino, the concept of national defence is not a merely military expression, it should be in the conscience of all citizens committed to nation building, preservation of peace, stability and the great achievements of the Angolan people.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The minister for Mining Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, said Monday in Luanda that the partial sale of Sonangol’s stakes would promote better allocation of capital, greater business efficiency, creation of cost synergies and greater focus on the “oil and gas” value chain.

According to the government official, this is a common procedure in the industry, which is part of Sonangol’s production and exploration strategy for its repositioning as the national oil operator, in some of Angola’s offshore and onshore oil concessions.

Diamantino Azevedo was speaking at the launch of the process for divesting Sonangol’s stake in blocks 03/05, 4/05, 5/06, 15/06, 18, 23, 27 and 31.

Highlighting the geological potential of Angola’s Lower Congo and Kwanza sedimentary basins, where the concessions are located, the oil minister hoped that it would be true of the Namibe basin, which still lacked more detailed studies of the quantities of crude oil.

Due to the importance of the oil sector for Angola’s development, the government has implemented a number of reforms in the legal, tax and contractual framework to attract more domestic and foreign investors.

According to the minister, such attractiveness is necessary for investors to get involved in the sector, with less bureaucracy and greater transparency, adjusted to the current reality, with effective and modern legislation.

“The opening of this process of partial alienation of the participative interests in some of Sonangol’s oil concessions emerges from actions aimed at repositioning and sustainability of Sonangol’s investment portfolio, to take on its financial commitments,” Diamantino Azevedo confirmed.

Such financial commitments have to do with banking institutions, support the expenses associated with the acquisition of refined products, and reduce its financial exposure, as the representative body of the State with direct intervention in the oil concessions, as an investor.

Source: Angola Press News Agency