Luanda: Angola reaffirmed its commitment to the transparent, responsible, and sustainable governance of natural resources on Wednesday at the United Nations headquarters in New York. This position was presented by Angola's Minister of Foreign Affairs T©te Ant³nio during the UN Security Council High-Level Open Debate on the theme "Natural Resource Governance: The Foundation for Peace, Security, and Prosperity." He argued that the effective management of natural resources is essential for promoting peace, international security, and sustainable development.
According to Angola Press News Agency, Minister Ant³nio congratulated the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on its presidency of the UN Security Council and expressed appreciation for the debate, highlighting its relevance in an international context where the illicit exploitation of natural resources continues to fuel armed conflicts and undermine development efforts in various regions of the world, particularly in Africa. The minister also acknowledged the contributions of UN Secretary-General Ant³nio Guterres and World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, whose statements reinforced the need for a coordinated approach to address challenges related to natural resource governance.
During his address, Minister T©te Ant³nio emphasized that natural resources represent an opportunity to drive economic growth, strengthen institutions, and improve the living conditions of populations, provided they are managed transparently and responsibly. However, he noted that a lack of good governance fosters corruption, the financing of armed groups, and the weakening of states, while depriving citizens of the benefits of their own countries' wealth.
In this context, Angola presented three priorities considered essential for transforming natural resources into instruments of stability and prosperity. The first priority involves strengthening the legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks governing access to, exploitation of, and trade in natural resources, while fully preserving state sovereignty. The minister also advocated for combating illegal exploitation by strengthening law enforcement, reinforcing anti-corruption measures, and tackling illicit financial flows.
He further highlighted the importance of consolidating existing international mechanisms-such as the Kimberley Process (established with the benefit of Angola's experience in combating "blood diamonds"), the OECD Due Diligence Guidelines, the Regional Certification Mechanism of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. He called for strengthening their implementation, enhancing traceability within global supply chains, and utilizing innovative technologies to increase transparency and accountability.
As a second priority, the official advocated for deepening international cooperation, noting that the illicit exploitation of and trafficking in natural resources constitute transnational challenges requiring coordinated responses among states, regional organizations, international financial institutions, the private sector, and civil society. The goal, he emphasized, is to enhance information sharing, improve customs and police cooperation, and dismantle cross-border criminal networks, all while respecting the permanent sovereignty of states over their natural resources.
The third priority, according to Minister T©te Ant³nio, focuses on integrating natural resource governance into conflict prevention and peacebuilding strategies. The minister noted that in various African regions, particularly in the eastern DRC, the illegal exploitation of resources continues to fund armed groups, fuel cycles of violence, and undermine peace initiatives. He therefore advocated for more robust governance, greater local value addition to resources, environmental sustainability, effective community participation, and continuous investment in strengthening national institutions.
T©te Ant³nio reiterated that the United Nations Security Council has long recognized the close link between the illicit exploitation of natural resources and armed conflict, arguing that this dimension should be systematically integrated into strategies for conflict prevention, peacebuilding, sanctions regimes, and post-conflict recovery processes. He also expressed Angola's interest in the proposal presented by the DRC to establish a Group of Friends for Natural Resource Governance, viewing it as a promising initiative to strengthen international cooperation in this area.
In concluding his remarks, T©te Ant³nio reaffirmed Angola's belief that natural resources should serve as engines of sustainable development rather than factors of instability. He emphasized that achieving this goal requires resilient institutions, responsible governance, solid international partnerships, and sustained political commitment. As a concrete example of this vision, he highlighted the Lobito Corridor-a strategic project that promotes regional infrastructure integration and drives the local processing of critical minerals, thereby strengthening economic cooperation among Angola, the DRC, Zambia, and the rest of the African continent.
