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