Luanda – Outgoing US ambassador to Angola Nina Maria Fite Friday in Luanda considered “very positive” the engagement of the governments of both countries in consolidating cooperation relations in various fields.
The US diplomat stressed the two countries’ commitment after an audience granted by the Angolan Head of State João Lourenço, ahead of her four-year term in Angola.
She said that Angola and US had a good engagement in the President João Lourenço’s term in the health fields, with stress to the programmes related to the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS and Covid-19”.
As for the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Nina Faite said that her country has so far donated 3.4 million doses of vaccine, assuring that the US is available to continue cooperating with Angola in this area.
Regarding economic cooperation, she said that the two countries have implemented partnerships to fight corruption in Angola.
“I take the image of Angola as a country that is growing and we desire its growth in the future, with a view to achieving social and economic development”, she underlined.
Nina Faite said that Angola has been carrying out serious and tough measures in its economy through the package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, for this reason, she believes in satisfactory results in the coming years.
Regarding Angola’s contribution to the search for peace and political stability in Central Africa, with particular emphasis on the Central African Republic (CAR), the ambassador praised the efforts of the Angolan statesman, as president of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR ).
Angola -US relations
Angola and the United States established formal diplomatic relations in 1993.
The energy sector is at the center of economic relations between both countries.
The American Ex-ImBank has a credit line to support US exports to Angola.
The United States-Angola Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to promoting trade and investment between the two countries.
Fight against corruption
The US supports Angola in fighting corruption through various initiatives, including the Treasury Department’s programme, launched in March 2019, to improve the country’s ability to implement the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regime (AML /CFT).
Economic cooperation
US companies have significant investments in Angola, especially in the energy sector. ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Caterpillar, Chevron, Cummins, TechnipFMC and Tidewater are all represented in the country.
In 2019, a consortium led by Chevron announced plans to invest more than $2 billion in exploring new offshore natural gas fields and increasing production from existing fields.
The US Ex–ImBank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Angola in April 2019 to explore guarantees of up to US$4 billion in support of US exports to the country.
Source: Angola Press News Agency