Day: February 28, 2023

Luanda – Angolan government is working with the World Bank to implement the Acceleration of Economic Diversification and Job Creation Project estimated at 300 million US dollars, the national director for Business Environment of the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP), Laércio Cândido said Tuesday in Luanda.

Speaking at the usual MEP briefing, Candido said the project is expected to promote geographically balanced economic and sustainable transformation driven by the private sector through the development of the Lobito corridor.

The Economy and Planning official explained that the focus on the Lobito corridor emerges due to its strategic importance, and should support the growth of services and financial opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises.

According to Candido, the aim is to mobilise capital from the private sector to boost productive infrastructure and push the diversification of the country’s economy.

Cândido explained that the economic diversification will be implemented through the improvement of the business environment, boosting infrastructure capacity and investment to develop value chains.

The aim is to improve investment and trade environment, Candido said, underlining that the MEP will be in all provinces implementing measures to simplify the business environment process, and that along the Lobito corridor there are several public infrastructures that have great potential to boost the private sector, lacking a small investment to make them attractive to the private sector.

The national director for the Business Environment said Angola was one of the first 40 countries the World Bank chose to be part of the ranking of the favourable environment for doing business.

He said that the MEP will deal with microeconomic aspects, service provision by the public administration for companies, workers and the market.

Cândido also said that an action plan for the improvement of the business environment is currently being prepared – a guidance document for actions that contribute to improving the business environment.

“We are preparing the 2023/2024 action plan, which is normally the evaluation period and this document is the result of the actions that we were not able to carry out in the 2022/2023 financial year and has the support of the World Bank,” Candido said.

He added that proposals will be identified for measures to improve the business environment in Angola to be implemented by a multisectoral team.

It has 11 components that cover the life cycle of a company, which goes from opening to liquidation (insolvency). The components represent important areas for the business environment.

According to the official, the areas range from obtaining credit, where the action plan describes or determines activities leading to concrete actions to obtain credit, initiatives to improve the competitive governance of companies and protection of the interest of minority investors.

Candido noted that those initiatives would contribute to cross-border trade, simplification of import and export procedures, simplification of licensing of economic activity, simplification of the process for obtaining electricity, amongst others.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angola has announced plans for creation soon of a single database for social protection that will be able to gather information from various sectors to facilitate management of cases that require intervention in these fields.

This was announced by minister of Social Action, Family and Promotion of Woman, Ana Paula do Sacramento Neto while speaking at the opening of a seminar for training technicians and managers in social protection policies on Tuesday in Luanda.

The minister said that the database will also allow access to information on areas where the implementation of social protection projects is or is not succeeding to know who the vulnerable people are and how social support in the country is being done.

The minister underlined that in order for the expected goal to be achieved there is the need for the actors in this process to be properly trained to better serve.

Regarding the training, which is being conducted in partnership with UNICEF and the European Union, the minister said this is an opportunity to share international experiences in social protection to secure the rights of the citizen through integrated platforms.

The minister stressed that the techniques and methods used to establish a financially sustainable social protection scheme are expected to be improved during the training, as well as the skills of the participants that will enable them to design strategies to reform the schemes and extend the coverage of social protection.

“We also expect an understanding of the importance of extending social protection as a mechanism to reduce poverty and social inequalities,” the minister said.

UNICEF promotes social protection of children

UNICEF representative, Ivan Yerovi, said social protection is at the centre of the important challenges for children in Angola, since the country’s economic growth and development, strengthening of human capital and the well-being of its inhabitants requires a solution in this area.

Ivan Yerovi clarified that effective social protection systems are globally recognised as powerful tools to provide income security, prevent and reduce poverty and inequality and to promote social inclusion and dignity.

“The ministerial department has the mission to propose and execute social policies concerning the most vulnerable individuals and groups of the population, and to coordinate the implementation of the national Social Action policy,” Yerovi said.

UNICEF in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has supported the strengthening of the capacities of the key actors of the national social protection system through training, within the scope of the “Improving Synergies between Social Protection and Public Finance Management” Programme.

The training on social protection takes place from February 28 to March 3.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The loan portfolio and subsidies the African Development Bank (AfDB) has made available for Angola is estimated at 2.95 billion US dollars applied in social and economic projects.

According to a statement published at the Finance Ministry’s official website, in total the bank has approved 53 loans and subsidies for Angola, which has made it possible to fund projects linked to the agriculture, fishing, energy, water and sanitation, transport, finance, governance, private sector development and environment sectors, amongst others.

A delegation of the AfDB on mission in Angola was received Monday by members of the Angolan government to discuss the new Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for the 2024/2028 period.

The mission, which is due to remain in the country until March 3, plans to assess the government’s priorities related to AfDB strategic work, discuss the role of the financial institution and assess the results of the 2017-2021 CSP, which was extended to 2023.

According to the document, the process of outlining the new CSP 2024-2028 also includes the current strategy completion report and the diagnosis note that provides basic information for the new CSP.

In addition to discussions around the country diagnostic note and the CSP 2017-2023 completion report (CSP CR), the agenda of the AfDB’s mission provides for meetings on the bank’s Indicative Action Plan portfolio implementation and general cooperation with the authorities and other stakeholders.

The mission of the financial institution will also share guiding lessons on the bank’s future cooperation with the country, identify strategic areas for medium-term cooperation through the new CSP 2024-2028, review the performance of the country portfolio and present economic studies that provide “insights”, to contribute to the definition of priorities.

The AfDB team’s work agenda also includes meetings with officials from the ministerial departments of Economy and Planning, Transport, Energy and Water, Agriculture and the National Bank of Angola (BNA).

Angola has been a regional member of the African Development Bank since 1980. The first loan operations with the bank date back to 1983.

Since then, the AfDB has approved above 53 loans and grants to Angola.

Source: Angola Press News Agency