Day: September 21, 2021

Luanda – The Angolan President, João Lourenço, Monday in Washington announced that Angola has started negotiations with the American company “African Parks” for a public-private partnership, co-management and development of the Luengue-Luiana and Mavinga natural parks.

The Angolan statesman, who was speaking at the Annual Gala of the International Conservation Caucus Federation (ICCF), said that these parks, located in the protected trans-border region of Okovango-Zambezi, are the last wild frontier in southern Africa.

During the event, which was attended by the President of Colombia, Ivan Duque Márquez, the Angolan statesman was awarded an ICCF prize for his initiatives in favour of environmental conservation.

“This region is the last wild frontier in southern Africa comprising rivers and lakes that supply the Okavango Delta in Botswana, and critical natural habitats for migration of the largest remaining elephant populations in Africa, and which are beginning to return to Angola from Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia,” said João Lourenço.

He said that “African Parks” will bring the funding and technical expertise needed to conserve and manage these vast areas that are under increasing threat from deforestation, fire and poaching.

He said that it will act as an “umbrella” under which some of the current international and local partners, such as Panthera, Acadir, DBDS, will operate, these being the ones providing support in preserving the cats and the communities found there.

“At the outset we would like to thank Panthera, for the creation of the community wardens working towards the preservation of wildlife and human life in the Luengue-Luiana National Park,” he acknowledged.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The President of the Republic, Joao Lourenço, Monday in Washington granted audiences to personalities linked to environmental conservation and park management institutions.

The meetings took place shortly before the Annual Gala of the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF), which distinguished the Angolan president with an award for his leadership in environmental conservation.

João Lourenço received the chairpersons of African Parks, ICCF, the vice-chairperson of this organization, Peter Fearnhead, John Gantt and Susan Lylis, as well as Rob & Melani Walton.

President João Lourenço announced Monday that negotiations are underway with African Parks for a public-private partnership, co-management and development of the natural parks of Luengue-Luiana and Mavinga, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to that end.

The chairpersons of “Mars, INC” and Conservation International, namely Frank Mars and M. Sanjayan, also held talks with the Angolan leader.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angolan health authorities announced Tuesday 324 new cases, 5 deaths and 76 recoveries in the latest 24 hours.

As many as 178 new infections were detected in Luanda, followed by Huambo province, with 69.

The daily bulletin also announced 17 new cases in Cabinda, 15 in Huíla, 15 in Uíge, 10 in Namibe, 7 in Zaire, 4 in Cuando Cubango, 3 in Malanje, 3 in Moxico, 2 in Bié and 1 in Cunene.

The new cases involve 188 men and 136 women, with ages ranging from 1 month to 93 years old.

The fatalities were reported in the provinces of Namibe with 3, while Huambo and Uíge with one each.

Among the recovered patients, 24 are residing in Luanda, 23 in Bié, 18 in Huíla, 6 in Namibe, 3 in Moxico, 1 in Benguela and 1 in Lunda Sul.

So far, Angola has totaled 52,968 positive cases, 1,414 deaths, 46,182 recoveries and 5,372 active patients.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Former chairman of Transporte Colectivo Urbano de Luanda (TCUL)s’ bus transport company, extradited from Portugal to Angola, arrived in Luanda on Tuesday, ANGOP has learnt.

Abel António Cosme, who was a fugitive from justice, is one of those implicated in the “CNC case”, accused of involvement in embezzlement as manager of Unicargas.

The main defendant in this trial was the former Minister of Transport, Augusto da Silva Tomás, sentenced to 14 years in prison for the crimes of embezzlement, money laundering, criminal association and violation of the rules of execution of plan and budget..

In the same process, former director-general of CNC, Manuel António Paulo, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and former deputy directors Isabel Bragança and Rui Manuel Moita, to 12 years and 10 years, respectively.

Employee Eurico Pereira da Silva was sentenced to two years in prison, with a suspended sentence.

December 2019, the Supreme Court decided to reduce the sentence of former minister of Transport, Augusto Tomás, from 14 to eight years and four months after an appeal filed by defence.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Washington – Angola’s southern region will soon have solar and water supply systems, as part of USD 1.5 billion project to be implemented by US company “ Sun Africa”.

The project is expected to cover the southern provinces of Cunene, Namibe, Cuando Cubango and Huíla.

For the execution of the project, Angolan government and “Sun Africa” signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday, in Washington.

The Memorandum consists of the electrification of all Municipal headquarters and the main communes in the country.

The minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, signed the document for Angolan side, in the presence of the President, João Lourenço, as part of visit to the north American country.

João Baptista Borges said that the objective is to supply the electricity and water to the population and promote the emergence of economic ventures.

“The electrification will be done either through conventional solutions, with the extension of lines and the construction of substations, or using solar energy. The US is one of the leading countries in the installation of these systems, mainly in the remote regions, where this solution is the most available and accessible”, he stated.

The project features the installation of water supply systems, said the minister, stating that “Sun Africa” will mobilise financial resources from the US EximBank to cover the needs of the project.

He said that as soon as the contracts are signed, the execution period will be defined, predicting that the present project could be implemented in two years.

According to the official, the Memorandum is a reflection of the importance the US attaches to cooperation with Angola, the credibility the country currently deserves with US financial institutions and an evidence of the priority the Angolan Executive gives to expanding access to electricity and to water.

The memorandum was signed on the sidelines of a roundtable on investments in Angola, an initiative of the United States-Angola Chamber of Commerce.

The president of the US-Angola Chamber of Commerce, Pedro Godinho, praised the round table and added that the turnout at this event spiked among many American companies which did not participate in the previous events.

He said the increase in participation in the Angolan event owed to the reforms underway in Angola, with stress to crack down on corruption, as well as the credibility the country began to gain with institutions such as the International Mine Fund and the World Bank.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Rwanda has fully vaccinated 10% of its population against COVID-19, reaching the September global target by the World Health Organization (WHO) aimed at widening vaccination and helping to turn the tide against the pandemic.

“I am delighted at this significant achievement,” said Dr Salla Ndoungou Ba, WHO Representative ad interim in Rwanda. “Rwanda has been a model of good practice in the region since the beginning of its vaccination programme in March. I congratulate the Government of Rwanda and its partners for their sustained effort to protect the people of Rwanda against COVID-19.”

In May 2021, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, set the global target of 10% of the populations of all countries to be inoculated by the end of September; 40% by the end of December; and 70% by mid-2022.

The global targets have been set to reach critical milestones in countries’ COVID-19 vaccine responses. 10% of the population inoculated should offer protection to the most vulnerable; 40% should keep priority populations such as health care workers, older people, and people with comorbidities safe, and 70% will reopen societies and economies.

Almost 90% of high-income countries have now reached the 10% target, and more than 70% have reached the 40% target. Only 14 countries in the African continent achieved the first target and three countries have achieved 40% target.

Rwanda has so far received around 3.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines – 1.1 million of these from The COVAX Facility, 108 000 from the Africa Centres for Disease Control’s Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust; and 2.1 million from bilateral agreements. Of these, it has administered 3.3 million doses and fully vaccinated 10% of its 13 million people.

Building on the success of Rwanda’s routine immunization system, COVID-19 vaccination has been rolled out smoothly with minimal hesitancy. The country is committed to reach as many people as possible in each targeted group and to make this happen, vaccine distribution has been facilitated by air, road and water, allowing a simultaneous vaccination roll-out country wide.

To address the shortage in vaccine supply which slowed down the vaccination pace from April to June, the Government of Rwanda engaged with vaccine manufacturers to access more vaccine doses through bilateral agreements while continuing its engagement with COVAX Facility. The strong leadership and good governance observed in Rwanda has been the foundation and driving force behind innovations and successes.

The supply shortages in Africa from April to July caused uncertainty and insecurity among countries in Africa, ultimately impacting on their vaccine uptake. Coupled with operational bottlenecks and some measure of vaccine hesitancy, only 54 million people in Africa, or 4% of the population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Despite challenges, many countries adopted innovative and flexible vaccine delivery strategies in a bid to get as many jabs into arms as possible.

WHO is supporting the Government of Rwanda to reach the country’s target to vaccinate 60% of Rwandans by 2022.

Source: World Health Organization. Africa