Day: June 6, 2022

Posted on

Nito Alves bones delivered Wednesday to relatives

Luanda – The bones of Nito Alves and Jacob João Caetano “Monstro Imortal”, former leaders killed in the coup attempt of 27 May 1977 will be delivered to their relatives on Wednesday, in Luanda, ANGOP has learnt.

According to the Reconciliation Commission in Memory of Political Conflicts Victims (CIVICOP) in the same day it will be delivered the bones of Arsénio José Lourenço Mesquita “Sianuk” and Ilídio Ramalhete who also died on the occasion.

Talking to the press the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, Francisco Queiroz, who is the coordinator of the CIVICOP, said on Monday that the delivery of the bones will take place in the army headquarters and it will be of a political nature.

The official explained the four bodies were taken where there were about 20 dead, and other bodies are still under analysis in the genetic point of view to determine the DNA.

However, the minister clarified that many of them already have a completed registration and just missing to cross it with the data of the family and some of them live in Portugal.

“The aforementioned registration did not come with the technicians of Portugal because the families pointed specialists in whom they trust so that they can bring the blood to Angola”, added the official.

Regarding this aspect the minister said that there is no imposition because what is intended is full transparency, technical and scientific security.

The minister said that there are other places already registered and identified to start the works, which includes exhumation, the major part of it in the capital city of the country and at its time will be published.

The work teams are divided in four groups being the first for micro-identification and exhumation of the bones, the second for analyses with a forensic specialist, the third is for the issuing of death certificates and the fourth for mass communication.

The official it made known that since the beginning of the works over 2,000 death certificates were already delivered to the bereaved families.

Meanwhile, the CIVICOP coordinator thanked the collaboration of the relatives of the deceased people in this process, which facilitates everything and finally enables the holding of the funeral of such victims, and appease the living relatives.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Posted on

Musk Threatens to Kill Twitter Deal Over Fake Account Data

Elon Musk accused Twitter of “actively resisting and thwarting his information rights,” as the Tesla founder attempts to get information about fake and spam accounts on the platform.

The accusation came in a letter Musk sent to Twitter Monday in which he warned he could walk away from the $44 billion deal to take over the company should Twitter not provide the information he seeks.

Musk further accused Twitter of a “clear material breach” of its obligation to provide the data.

“Musk believes Twitter is transparently refusing to comply with its obligations under the merger agreement, which is causing further suspicion that the company is withholding the requested data due to concern for what Musk’s own analysis of that data will uncover,” according to the letter.

“Twitter has, in fact, refused to provide the information that Mr. Musk has repeatedly requested since May 9, 2022, to facilitate his evaluation of spam and fake accounts on the company’s platform. Twitter’s latest offer to simply provide additional details regarding the company’s own testing methodologies, whether through written materials or verbal explanations, is tantamount to refusing Mr. Musk’s data requests,” the letter said.

The social media platform has not commented on Musk’s letter. Twitter stock tumbled over 5% in early trading Monday.

Source: Voice of America

Posted on

President discusses peace, security situation with ECCAS Commission chairman

Luanda- Angolan head of State João Lourenço and the chairman of the Commission of the Economic Community of the Central African States (ECCAS) Gilberto Verissimo analysed on Monday in Luanda the political situation, peace and security in the central region of Africa.

Speaking to the press, at the end of the audience granted by the president, the Angolan diplomat at the ECCAS service said that, among the issue, the meeting analysed mainly the situation of smouldering conflicts in the Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Chad and Cameroon.

According to Gilberto Veríssimo, one of the recommendations that emerged from the Central African Security Peace Council meeting held in Kinshasa, DRC, last April, has to do with the need for ECCAS to focus on the peace processes in our region.

“In this context, we are paying special attention to these conflict situations”, said the diplomat, who described the situation in those countries in the region as calm.

Veríssimo explained that his visit to Luanda, as part of a tour through some countries in the region, is meant to inform the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, on the current situation of peace and security in the region.

João Lourenço currently takes over the chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

The diplomat also highlighted the importance that ECCAS attaches to the region, at a time when elections are scheduled for the months of July, August and September in Congo, Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe, respectively.

ECCAS is a sub-regional economic bloc made up of 11 countries.

They are Angola, Cameroon, Burundi, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, São Tomé and Príncipe, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.

The Community has, among its purposes, to implement a common policy to boost the free movement of goods, services and people and make headway with the industrial development.

In the medium and long term, ECCAS aims to improve land connections between its members, as there is awareness that mobility is one of its weakest links, as an economic bloc.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Posted on

Angola, EU analyse bilateral cooperation

Luanda – Angola and the European Union (EU) Monday in Luanda discussed the partnership as part of the “Joint Angola-EU Path” project embodied in investment actions in different areas of economic development.

During an audience, the Angolan top diplomat Téte António and EU director for Africa Rita Laranjinha focused in particular on the “Sixth Ministerial Meeting”, among other programmes of common interest.

The diplomats also addressed issues related to defence and security.

The mainly focused on the prevailing situation in the Central African Republic (CAR), as well as the role that Angola has played in the framework of International Conference on Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

Based in Brussels (Kingdom of Belgium) and with representations throughout the world, the European External Action Service (EEAS) aims to ensure greater coherence and effectiveness in European foreign policy, as well as to strengthen Europe’s influence at the international level.

EEAS supports the EU High Representative in the European Union’s foreign and security policy, manages diplomatic relations and strategic partnerships with countries outside the European community.

It also collaborating with the national diplomatic services of the EU countries, the United Nations and other world powers.

The institution, currently headed by a Portuguese woman, promotes peace through political and economic support, guarantees security under the common security and defence policy.

It also maintains good relations with the EU’s closest neighboring countries, under European good neighborhood policy.

The Director for Africa of the EU External Action Service is also responsible for providing humanitarian assistance and crisis response, as well as contributing to the fight against climate change and dealing with human rights issues.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Posted on

Tax reduction to boost industrial sector – economist

Luanda – The 56.6 percent reduction in Industrial Tax, provided for in the General State Budget (OGE-22), for companies providing oil and mining sector services, encourages technological and organizational development of national industries, economist Juliana Evangelista said.

The 2022 State Budget reduces the Industrial Tax rate, which is levied on incidental services, from 15 percent to 6.5 percent, and the Angolan government’s draft bill, sent to the National Assembly, was approved Monday 6 by the MPs.

Juliana Evangelista told Angop that the reduction of Industrial Tax for oil and mining industry workers, included in the State Budget for 2022, was part of a measure to encourage economic activity in these sectors that are driving the Angolan economy.

She recalled that this tax, in the past, the rate in force was 6.5 percent and was raised to 15 percent in 2017.

According to the specialist, the high taxes on the affected companies increase the cost of oil production, which is an inhibiting factor for attracting foreign investment.

Asked to what extent this measure of reduction from 15 to 6.5 percent satisfies the industrial oil and mining sector, Evangelista considers it an important step towards increasing the flow of investment, improving the business environment in the country, as well as financial robustness and liquidity for companies.

Juliana Evangelista stresses that changing the energy matrix is part of the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030, which provides for the introduction of clean energy.

Therefore, she indicates that it is a priority to exploit mineral resources (oil) to the maximum, otherwise they will be underused.

According to the specialist, most of the companies in this sector are small and medium-sized enterprises, which are responsible for a large part of the generation of wealth and jobs in economies.

In this sense, he stresses, the promotion and growth of these companies must be guaranteed, removing the barriers to their development, with regard to the significant reduction of taxes and/or fees in order to stimulate competitiveness and the creation of more jobs.

For the economist, the immediate consequences of this government measure will be a greater capacity to attract foreign investment for companies in the sector, which will generate greater competitiveness for the companies.

“Taxes should be easy to understand and payment processes simplified, as taxation generates bureaucracy, leading to advisory obligations for companies, both in determining what is earned and produced,” she noted.

The oil sector, he noted, continued to be the lever of the national economy and accounted for around 90 percent of exports and around 75 percent of tax revenues, which is why reducing the industrial tax is of great importance.

For the chairman of the Industrial Association of Angola (AIA), José Severino, the reduction of the industrial tax is timely in a period when Angola has “timidly” expanded its industrial park.

“With the lower tax rate, products will become more competitive and will contribute to reducing the serious structural and internal problems of our companies. We are thus beginning to take steps towards a local content revolution,” Severino said.

From a tax collection point of view, the president of AIA said that the state would “sacrifice” some revenue, but, on the other hand, it would increase the supply of services and, consequently, it would win in the long term, because national companies would increase the volume of services, more tax revenues and more staff contributing to social security.

Over the last few years, he said, Angola has taken steps to boost industry, but in order to obtain better results in the short term it is necessary to create more attractive policies and tax incentives for investments, especially outside the capital, Luanda.

The country should take advantage of the good business environment, created during this legislature, and set up industries in border areas and in large raw material centres.

“It is necessary to give differentiated tax treatment to the border provinces, with exemptions of up to 20 years, and not the current five years, as that is the way for us to compete in the SADC market, allied to the power and communications network,” he noted.

Following this, the official said that the fact that the primary link with SADC is overland and cross-border, Angola should aim to make Moxico, Lunda Sul and Lunda Norte, Cunene and the northern part of Uige, true industrial free trade zones.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Proudly powered by WordPress