Day: February 3, 2023

Mbanza Kongo – The city of Mbanza Kongo, capital of Zaire Province, is to hosts this Saturday the central celebration ceremony of the beginning of the Armed Struggle for National Liberation, which is marked on 4th February.

Under the motto “Preserving the values of the Homeland, let us honour our Heroes”, the 62nd anniversary of the beginning of the Armed Struggle for National Liberation is being commemorated, in a year in which the continuity of a process of historic changes arising from the general elections on 24 August 2022 is being strengthened.

The 4th of February celebrations will take place all over the country, as well as in the Diplomatic and Consular Missions of Angola until 20 February of the current year.

The provincial governor of Zaire, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, said that conditions are being put in place to host the 4th February celebration and calls for a massive participation of the population.

“We must pay tribute to our 4th February heroes, who in 1961 unleashed a heroic action that culminated with National Independence on 11 November 1975”, he recalled.

The celebrations of the central act programme on 4 February includes political, sports and recreational activities.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angola’s minister of State and Economic Coordination Manuel Nunes Júnior Friday said the government intends to consolidate and deepen Angola’s new model of growth, which predicts a 3.3 percent growth by 2023.

He said the growth would be “driven” by the non-oil economy, with the private sector as the main player.

The minister added that preliminary figures for 2022 indicated growth of around 3 percent, and once again with performance led by the non-oil sector.

“Only with this paradigm will we be able to solve the great and difficult social problems of our country, particularly unemployment, hunger and poverty,” the minister told an opening ceremony of the 1st National Forum for Industry and Trade on the theme, “The Challenges of Food Self-sufficiency”.

The official noted that Angola has taken important steps over the last five years to make the country an increasingly attractive place for investment and has strengthened the foundations of a democratic rule of law, as well as consolidating the economy.

Manuel Junior said that in terms of market economy consolidation, a macroeconomic stabilisation programme has been successfully developed that allowed positive results to be achieved in terms of fiscal accounts balance, reduction of inflation rates, normalisation of the foreign exchange market and the country’s international reserves.

Manuel Nunes Júnior stressed that Angola’s internal and external accounts are now in surplus, having underlined that before 2018 they were largely in deficit.

According to the minister of state, these are factors that help to boost confidence in the country among national and foreign economic agents.

The minister stressed that in 2021 Angola resumed the economic growth trajectory that had been interrupted in 2016.

“We lived through 5 difficult years of economic recession, with all the social and economic consequences that this phenomenon brings with it, especially with regard to the increase in unemployment levels,” Junior said.

The minister recalled that in 2021 the global growth of the Gross Domestic Product was of 0.7%, even in the face of a negative growth in the oil sector of 11.6%, adding that this global growth was achieved thanks to a strong growth in the non-oil sector of 6.4%, with emphasis on agriculture and livestock, fisheries, manufacturing, extractive industry, (especially diamonds), trade, construction, transport and other services.

Increase in production

Minister Manuel Nunes Júnior pointed out that the Programme to Support National Production, Diversify Exports and Replace Imports (PRODESI) has been implemented by the Executive since 2018, based on a “very important premise, which is the establishment of a true alliance between the State and the private sector in increasing national production, citizens’ income and the fight against poverty.”

The government, the minister said, has recently approved the National Plan for Promotion of Grain Production in Angola, or Planagrão – a programme that aims to significantly increase production of wheat, rice, soy and maize across the country, particularly in the country’s eastern provinces.

The programme will have available resources estimated at 5.7 billion kwanzas over the next five years.

The minister explained that part of these resources would be to support credit to the private sector, through Angola Development Bank (BDA) and another for public investment in infrastructures, which are needed to develop that activity.

Manuel Junior said the National Plan for Livestock Production Development – Planapecuária, recently approved by the government aims to increase national production of beef, pork, goat meat and eggs and milk production.

The programme will have resources valued at the equivalent 300 million US dollars over the next three years to support the private sector.

The minister added that the recently approved National Plan for the Promotion of Fisheries that aims to increase fish captures and salt production, includes financial resources valued at 300 million US dollars over the next five years, essentially to fund private projects.

The government wants to count on the private business sector, farmers, industrial producers and members of civil society, to get the most out of the forum, so that they can discuss exhaustively all relevant aspects for Angola to rise as a true economic power in Africa.

The minister added that the government will continue to do its part so that the motor for the country’s growth is really the private sector, with the State playing the role of regulator and coordinator of the country’s entire development process.

The 1st National Forum of Industry and Commerce, which runs under the theme “The Challenges of Food Self-Sufficiency” presents a vision of the various sector players, analysing the various challenges and opportunities that the country presents for the development of the food industry and commerce.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The chairman of Angola Business Group Arsénio Bumba presented Friday to the minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, “Angola Investor Market” platform launch programme.

It is a digital platform aimed at attracting investors from anywhere in the world to the Angolan market, without requiring them to travel to the country.

One of the advantages of the mechanism is that it allows investors to identify and have access to existing investment projects in Angola, not yet materialised, without having the need to come to the country.

In a note, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refers that “Angola Investor Market” reinforces and innovates the actions of economic diplomacy, a bet of the Angolan State to diversify the country’s economy.

The platform is seen as a solution for economic recovery and the re-launch of the country’s economy.

The presentation of “Angola Investor Market” took place during an audience that the head of Angolan diplomacy granted to the chairman of the company Angola Business Group, Arsénio Bumba.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The former U-18 national coach Elisa Pires has been confirmed as head coach of the senior women’s basketball team for Interclube.

According to the official page of the club assigned to the National Police (InterClub), Elisa Pires (former assistant) takes over from the Spanish Julián Martínez.

Martínez was fired due to poor results in the 25th edition of the Champions Clubs’ Cup, which took place in December last year in Maputo (Mozambique).

Prior to the Spanish coach, Interclub was guided by the Angolan Carlos Dinis, who now trains the senior men’s team of this sports association.

In 2022, Elisa Pires won a bronze medal for the national U-18 team, in the African category championship, in Madagascar.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Food Strategy Reserve (REA) expects to acquire 540,000 metric tons of national product this year at a fixed price, Angola’s Bonded Warehouse CEO announced on Friday.

Eduardo Machado announced this to the press on the sidelines of the 1st National Industry and Commerce Forum, under the motto “The Challenges of Food Self-sufficiency”.

The company’s CEO said that the Food Strategy Reserve (REA) is intended to regulate the market and influence drop in prices of essential food products in the basic basket.

He said the 540,000 tons will help transform part of the offer into consumption for this year.

Also REA coordinator, the manager recalled that in 2022 the reserve injected 775,000 metric tons of products into the market, 40,000 of which were domestically produced maize.

The 1st National Industry and Commerce Forum presents a vision of the different players in the sector, analysing the various challenges and opportunities that the country presents for the development of the food industry and commerce.

The event brings together public and private sectors that debate the issues related to the role of the Industry and Commerce sector.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angolan Head of State João Lourenço on Friday discussed the strengthening of parliamentary cooperation with Mozambique, during an audience he granted to the speaker of that African nation’s National Assembly , Esperança Bias.

“We made known (…) the need for strengthening cooperation between the two parliaments,” Bias said at the end of the meeting with the Angolan president in Luanda.

The Mozambique parliament speaker said her country’s MPs intend to exchange experiences with the Angolan lawmakers in terms of mineral resources monitoring.

During the meeting, the Mozambican parliament speaker spoke of President Filipe Nyusi’s invitation to his Angolan counterpart, Joao Lourenço, to visit the country this year on a date to be further indicated.

Esperança Bias is since Thursday in Luanda for a six-day official visit to Angola, with the focus on strengthening parliamentary cooperation.

The bilateral relations between Angola and Mozambique are based on historical ties of friendship, fraternity and solidarity.

The two states signed the General Economic, Scientific-Technical and Cultural Cooperation Agreement on September 5,1978, with the Bilateral Cooperation Commission being set up in the same year.

Within the bilateral cooperation framework, the two countries have signed several agreements and protocols, with emphasis on the Agreement on Visa Exemption in Diplomatic, Service and Ordinary Passports.

Angola and Mozambique also cooperate in the aeronautical field, which allows the operation of three weekly flights by the Angolan Airlines between the two capitals (Luanda and Maputo).

The areas of cooperation extend to Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Youth, Social Communication and Foreign Affairs.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – At least 153 children, with congenital malformation of cleft lip are expected to undergo surgery at Dr. Walter Stragway Hospital, in central Bié province, as part of the second phase of the campaign.

Under the guidance of the Health Ministry (MINSA), the campaign’s motto is “Have a healthy face, confident smile, self-esteem and guaranteed social inclusion”, which intends to perform surgery from 15 and 20 children daily in seven days.

According to the director of Josina Machel Hospital, Carlos Zeca, coordinator of the project, after the launch of the first phase, in September 2022, it has become imperative to replicate the same project in other units of the country.

The first campaign of free surgeries for lip and cleft of the palate deformities, carried out in Luanda, covered 153 children.

The surgeries will run from February 7 to14, 2023, with the participation of a multidisciplinary team made up of 22 professionals.

Cleft lip and palate, popularly known as cleft lip, is a genetic anomaly and is characterised by an opening in the region of the lip and/or palate of the newborn baby.

Cleft lip is a separation of the upper lip, usually just below the nose.

Cleft palate is an opening in the upper part of the roof of the mouth (the palate) that causes an abnormal opening into the nose.

One out of every 1,000 newborns in the world is born with this anomaly, statistics say.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angola and Mozambique signed Friday in Luanda a memorandum of parliamentary cooperation for the renewal of representative, supervisory and parliamentary diplomacy activities for 2023-2025.

The document was signed by the leaders of the Angolan National Assembly and the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique, respectively Carolina Cerqueira and Laurinda Bias, as part of the official visit of the Mozambican parliamentarian to the country.

The programme is intended to ensure the implementation of the Cooperation Protocol between the Angolan Parliament and the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique, signed on 27 November, 2003 in the fields of political-parliamentary activity.

The programme is ruled by the principles of cooperation and exchange, shared responsibility, mutual consultation, political and gender representation, as well as periodic evaluation, with actions to be carried out in Angola and Mozambique, including exchange of experiences and study visits.

Carolina Cerqueira stressed that the visit of the Mozambican counterpart to Angola aims at renewing the 2016-2018 Political Cooperation Programme, for the institutionalization of parliamentary cooperation mechanisms between the two countries.

She considered crucial the visit the Mozambican counterpart is making to the Angola, as both countries have not yet performed any of the activities on political and administrative cooperation signed by the two parliaments in 2016 – 2018 period.

Whereas, the leader of the Assembly of Republic of Mozambique, Esperança Bias, said she hopped that the signed memorandum will, in fact, serve to bring the two peoples and countries closer together.

The visit to Angola is the first of its kind since Esperança Bias became speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique on January 13, 2020.

Esperança Bias is being accompanied by the leaders of the parliamentary groups of FRELIMO, RENAMO and MDM, Sérgio José Camunga Pantie, Viana da Silva Magalhães and Lutero Simango Chimbirombiro, respectively.

The delegation is also integrated by staff from the General Secretariat of the Assembly of Republic of Mozambique.

The agenda of Mozambican delegation includes visit to Benguela province to learn of the functioning of the Local Support Office for the Provincial Electoral Constituency and hold a meeting with governor Luís Nunes.

On September 5, 1978, Angola and Mozambique signed the General Agreement on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, paving the way for creation of the Bilateral Cooperation Commission.

Bilateral relations became strong after the President João Lourenço’s visit to Maputo in January 2020, as guest, to attend the inauguration ceremony of the re-elected President of that country, Filipe Nyusi.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angola’s Ombudswoman Florbela Araújo said Friday that monitoring of targeted communication exercised by any State body and private entities outside the limits of the law and international standards is a clear violation of a fundamental right.

A press note released by the Institution states that Florbela Araújo was speaking on the second day of the Regional Seminar on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information for Portuguese Speaking African countries.

During the event, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, Florbela Araújo highlighted the Principle 41 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, which establishes the surveillance of privacy and communication.

In her speech, as leader of the Network of Ombudswoman and National Human Rights Institutions, Florbela Araújo invited the Ombudsmen from the Portuguese Speaking Countries and the presidents of the Human Rights Commissions to defend the rights of citizens’ private life and in the violation of the freedom of expression.

In addition to the Angolan Ombudswoman, the event, which ended today (Friday), gathered several institutions in the field of human rights in Africa.

They include Cabo Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé, State-run institutions, NGOs and different bar associations .

Source: Angola Press News Agency