Category: Technology

Luanda – An Angolan delegation has been in Turkey since 5th March to work on implementation of the projects in the university sector in five provinces of the country.

Visiting the European nation ministers of Public Works and Spatial Planning (Minopot) and Higher Education, Science and Technology and Innovation, Manuel Tavares de Almeida and Maria Sambo, respectively.

The officials are negotiating with the local authorities on the financing of the construction and equipping of infrastructure for public higher education institutions in Angola.

A press release from Minopot and reached Angop on Wednesday states that the programme includes the provinces of Cunene, Lunda Norte, Malanje, Uíge and Zaire.

The Istanbul visiting agenda includes visit to Summa, one of the largest construction companies in this European country, with large experience in operating in several African countries, such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Rwanda.

The visit led to the signing of a minutes of negotiations at the company’s headquarters, which reflects the tasks to be performed by the parties in order to reach the recommended objective, in the shortest possible time.

Manuel Tavares de Almeida and Maria Sambo visit to Turkey is a result of an understanding reached during the visit by Angolan President João Lourenço to that country and strengthened during the visit of President Recep Erdogan to Angola.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angolan head of State João Lourenço inaugurated Friday in Luanda the Pediatric Hematology Institute, specialised in treatment of patients with sickle cell anemia, acute and chronic leukemia.

The Angolan Head of State, who was accompanied by the first lady, Ana Dias Lourenço, and Government officials, toured some areas of the institute.

Named “Doctor Victoria do Espírito Santo”, the Luanda-based health infrastructure will conduct special tests before parents decide to have children.

The hospital is expected to perform the first bone marrow transplant in the country later this year.

The unit, the first of its kind in Angola, has a pediatric hemotherapy component and a bone marrow transplant centre, in collaboration with the Institute for the Fight Against Cancer and other reference units.

The building comprises seven floors, technical areas (pharmacy and laundry, hospital waste deposits), an area for clinical analysis, imaging, administrative services and training.

The infrastructure, built from scratch, in an area of 11, 700 square meters, also has an operating room, intensive care unit, hospitalisation (pre and postoperative), as well as a child and family support centre.

The infrastructure is named after a retired 75 year old Angolan Doctor, Victoria do Espirito Santo, who is currently a university professor in the specialty of medicine.

Trained in Angola in the field of pediatrics, Victória do Espírito Santo was the clinical director of the David Bernardino Pediatric Hospital, having stood out for her humanised care and dedication to children.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angolan President of the Republic João Lourenço defended Friday in Luanda greater attention to the education of girls, particularly in rural areas.

The Head of State was speaking at the opening of the public event to publicise the Girl Empowerment and Learning for All Project (PAT II).

According to him, the commitment is justified as the factors linked to gender, especially in the rural areas, negatively impact on the access and permanence in school, as well as school promotion.

He pointed out that the partnership with the World Bank, started in 2013, with the Learning for All Project (PAT I), gains new impetus with the Girl Empowerment Project and Learning for All (PAT II). It is estimated at 250 million dollars for the next five years.

Mitigate the causes of school dropout

President João Lourenço pointed to early pregnancy as one of the main causes of school dropout, and defended the need to combat it through the promotion of sexual education and reproductive health for girls, in the communities where they live.

He said that PAT II aims to contribute to improving the quality of education in Angola, and is a timely response in the particular context of the Covid-19 pandemic, to strengthen the resilience of the education system.

According to the Angolan statesman, this project also aims to find innovative solutions for children, young people and adults, to ensure the right to education.

Call for teamwork

In his speech, João Lourenço also urged teamwork between the ministerial departments of Education, Health, Finance, Social Welfare, Family and Women Promotion, as well as Energy and Water.

According to the President, teamwork should also involve the Ministry of Youth and Sports, provincial governments and municipal administrations, in order to achieve the expected results.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Girls Empowerment and Learning for All (PAT2) project, launched Friday will benefit more than one million citizens and distribute 620,000 scholarships, announced the Minister of Education, Luísa Grilo.

The minister announced so at the PAT II dissemination ceremony chaired by by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

She stressed that the five-year USD250 million project will cover about six million students, guarantee their multifaceted training.

Luísa Grilo explained that the project is expected to empower Angolan girls with information and sexual and reproductive health services to 300,000 young people, between 12 and 17 years of age, of whom 180,000 girls to ensure a decrease in school-age pregnancy.

The project also aims, according to Luísa Grilo, to prevent gender-based violence, encourage students to stay in and/or return to school through the granting of scholarships for the most vulnerable, ensure the prevention of intimate hygiene and the supply of water and functional bathrooms.

In turn, the regional director of the World Bank, Jean Carret, stated that there will be no investment more impacting for the future of the country than the empowerment of girls, aiming to reduce poverty, boost economic growth and the well-being of Angolans.

For Jean Carret, keeping girls in school and ensuring that they learn is likely to bring far more gains than any other public investment.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, Tuesday, inaugurated the facilities of Digital.ao, where the Technological Incubator will operate, an infrastructure that aims to help transform innovative ideas from young Angolans into productive and sustainable businesses (companies).

After the formal cutting of the ribbon, the Head of State, accompanied by members of the Government, watched an institutional video of the project, visited some service areas of the infrastructure and received information about the functioning of the installed equipment.

The facility is located in the CTT area, in the urban district of Rangel, in the municipality of Luanda, and the technological incubator also aims to promote small, medium and large companies.

Digital.ao is budgeted at around 1.3 billion kwanzas, and the construction of the infrastructure started in 2016, but, for objective reasons, was paralyzed, having resumed in 2019.

Financed with ordinary resources from the treasury and with the sector’s own resources, the construction of Digital.ao also had the support of partners such as Huawei, Afrione, the African Development Bank and the World Bank.

Digital.ao has an infrastructure made up of two buildings. The first one has three floors and includes multifunctional spaces, a videoconference room, a computer repair laboratory and a software factory.

The second building, with one floor, is aimed at technical and professional qualifications, has, in addition to other compartments, rooms specializing in repair, maintenance and configuration of computers, printers and mobile phones, as well as analog, digital and robotics electronics.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The President of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, left Luanda this Wednesday, after carrying out a three-day state visit, as part of the reinforcement of bilateral cooperation.

At 4 de Fevereiro International Airport, the Cape Verdean statesman received farewell greetings from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Teté António.

On Monday, the first day of the official visit, the president of the West African island nation, met, in private, with his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço, and led the delegation of his country in official talks with Angola.

On the same day, the Cape Verde’s Head of State visited the António Agostinho Neto Memorial, where he laid a wreath on the sarcophagus of the first President of Angola, whom he considered a heritage of humanity.

Still on Monday, President José Maria Neves addressed the National Assembly, in a solemn plenary session held in his honor.

As part of the agenda for the official visit, José Maria Neves learned on Tuesday about the functioning of the National School of Administration and Public Policies (ENAPP) and the National Historical Archive.

The Cape Verdean Head of State began a three-day visit to Angola on Sunday, the first abroad visit since he took over as President of Cape Verde.

José Maria das Neves was inaugurated as the fifth President of Cape Verde in November 2021, in the presence of dignitaries from several countries and five Heads of State, including the Angolan President, João Lourenço.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

U.S. health authorities on Wednesday authorized the use of synthetic antibodies developed by AstraZeneca to prevent COVID-19 infections in people who react badly to vaccines.

It was the first time the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization for such a purely preventative treatment.

The FDA warned the drug Evusheld is “not a substitute for vaccination in individuals for whom COVID-19 vaccination is recommended” and can only be authorized for people with weakened immune systems or those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, such a strong allergic reaction.

In those cases, the drug can be administered to people 12 and older.

Evusheld combines two types of synthetic antibodies (tixagevimab and cilgavimab), and is given as two intramuscular injections, one right after the other. These antibodies help the immune system fight off the virus by targeting its spike protein, which allows it to enter cells and infect them.

The FDA said that the treatment “may be effective for pre-exposure prevention for six months.”

It cannot be administered to someone who is already infected with the virus, the FDA said, although AstraZeneca is testing it for such treatment.

Side effects may include an allergic reaction, bleeding from the injection site, headache, and fatigue.

The FDA authorization was based on a clinical trial carried out on unvaccinated people older than 59, or with a chronic disease, or at high risk of infection.

The drug was given to 3,500 people while 1,700 received a placebo. The trial showed that the treatment cut the risk of developing COVID-19 by 77%.

Two cocktails of antibodies, made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, are currently authorized for prevention of infection in the United States, but only in people who have been exposed to the virus shortly before, or who have a strong chance of being exposed, such as employees of retirement homes or prisons.

In addition to being immunocompromised or unvaccinated, these people must also be at high risk of developing a severe case of the disease.

Source: Voice of America

Huambo – The governor of Huambo, Lotti Nolika, said Monday that teacher was the main educator of society, as an active agent of change in behaviour and a conscience transformer for the formation of the new man.

According to the provincial governor, in an exhortation message sent to Angop, on the occasion of the Educator’s Day, which is marked today, the local government recognises the relevant role of teachers, calling on them to continue to be the teachers that teach and the patriots that inspire new generations.

Lotti Nolika recalled that the date, marked under the slogan “Teachers at the centre of recovery and learning”, was instituted on the occasion of the visit of the first President of the Republic of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, to the Textang II factory, in 1977, where he declared the opening of the literacy campaign of Luanda.

“It is in this sense, that I reiterate on behalf of the Government of the province of Huambo and in my own, wishes of congratulations and success in the fulfillment of your distinguished and noble mission. And despite the adversities, you continue to transmit the cultural, moral and social values of the Nation”, she concluded.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angolan minister of Education Luísa Grilo highlighted Thursday in Paris (France) the reinforcement of teachers skills to deal with the “new standard” imposed by Covid-19.

The minister stressed this at the 41st Session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Luísa Grilo said that the return to classes has forced the Angolan Executive to mobilise didactic-pedagogical conditions, biosafety and reinforcement of skills of teachers, consistent with their training needs, and monitoring of the role of the school.

Grilo added that despite these constraints, Angola is implementing, in the wide range of social and economic fields, a set of programmes to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The minister said the intention is to reduce regional discrepancies, gender inequalities and securing universal and quality education for all children, promoting social inclusion and combat discrimination.

She pointed to the Integrated Programme for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM), which, in her view, is providing a significant increase in the number of classrooms and reduction in students out of education system.

The official also announced that special attention is being given to girls in secondary education, with granting of 250 annual scholarships for the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The minister also spoke of the focus on reduction in gender deficit, the strengthening of family skills through women’s empowerment programmes, fighting against poverty, protecting and promoting children’s rights and valuing the family.

The minister also spoke of digital literacy with the existence of 7 million internet users and the use of the most varied information and communication systems, especially by young people who make up 2/3 of the Angolan population.

In the field of higher education, science, technology and innovation, according to the minister, the Government is committed to a training programme for Angolan staff with high performance and academic merit, with the support of the best universities in the world.

She said that 443 students have already been sent for the training, in addition to the granting of 190 doctoral and post-doctoral scholarships for higher education teachers.

Luísa Grilo also referred to the Science and Technology Development Programme, co-financed by the African Development Bank, who said that it has already guaranteed the financing of 25 of the 45 projects planned for this year.

The minister also announced the creation of the National Agency for Financing Science, Technology and Innovation, whose purpose is to integrate research and technological development institutions and higher education institutions in international scientific research networks.

Angola, according to the minister, supports initiatives, programmes and projects that benefit African countries, highlighting UNESCO’s Operational Strategy for Priority Africa 2022-2029, as it reflects the aspirations of Agenda 2063 of the African Union and the Sustainable Development goals set forth in the United Nations Agenda 2030.

Luísa Grilo also said that the need to develop efforts for the inscription of new “Africa Sites” on the World Heritage List is of greater interest, as well as the preservation of the “Sites” already inscribed through scientific and technological cooperation and mobilisation of funds to boost the actions carried out by the World Heritage Fund Africa.

Within the framework of the work agenda, Angola presented its candidacy for the UNESCO Executive Board.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Republics of Angola and Hungary recently signed a cooperation agreement between both countries in the field of higher education, science, technology and innovation.

The agreement was signed by the Minister for Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Maria do Rosário Bragança, who travelled to Budapest, Hungary, on 30 October, and by her counterpart, László Palkovics.

In 2020, the two countries had already signed a memorandum to allow the sending, annually, of 50 young Angolans in local universities, under the scope of educational cooperation and exchange “Stipedium Hungaricum”.

The Angolan minister’s programme, which runs until the 4th of this month, also involves visits to several Hungarian higher education institutions, as well as a meeting with Angolan students on scholarship in Hungary.

Maria do Rosário Bragança is accompanied by a delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESCTI), including the director-general of INAGBE, Milton Chivela, and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX).

The relations of cooperation between the Republic of Angola and the Republic of Hungary were established in 1997 through the signing of the Agreement on Economic and Technical-Scientific Cooperation.

From 1977 to 1981 several agreements were signed in the areas of Agriculture, Culture, Trade and Health.

Exchange agreements were signed between the Institute of International Relations of Angola and the Institute of International Relations and Commerce of Hungary, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry.

The two countries also signed in 2019 an agreement on the abolition of visas on diplomatic and service passports, and the agreement on economic and technical-scientific cooperation.

Source: Angola Press News Agency