Luanda - The Council of Ministers approved, on Thursday, in Luanda, the National Development Plan 2023-2027, during its 8th Ordinary Session, chaired by President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

The National Development Plan 2023-2027 is aimed at strengthening seven priority development axes, namely “Consolidating Peace and the Democratic Rule of Law, continuing the reform of the State, Justice, Public Administration, Social Communication, Freedom of Expression and Civil Society”.

“Promote the balanced and harmonious development of the territory”; and “Develop human capital, expanding access to health services, technical and scientific knowledge and skills, promoting culture and sport and encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation”.

“Reduce social inequalities, eradicating hunger and extreme poverty, promoting gender equality and solving multidimensional and transversal challenges to improving the quality of life of populations”; and Modernize and make the country’s infrastructures more efficient and preserve the environment”.

“Ensure sustainable, inclusive and private sector-led economic diversification, as well as food security”; and “Ensure the defense of sovereignty, integrity and national security and promote the image and role of Angola in the regional and international context”.

According to the Minister of Economy, Caetano João, the PDN is based on the Government program, including the most diverse electoral promises, the long-term strategy, provincial development plans, sectoral development plans and the most diverse commitments made with of the most diverse international organizations.

The PDN is guided by three fundamental principles, the first being “alignment”, secondly “development impact”, which is a novelty, which refers to the need, in addition to executing projects and financing them, to know the impact before its implementation (how each project will impact youth, how it will help vulnerable communities, how it will resolve the employment issue and also the tax revenue component).

The third principle is that of “programmatic interdependence”, ensuring that sectors and provincial governments are in alignment and shielded by the medium-term macro-economic and fiscal framework.

To materialize the PDN, a vision of less poverty, more employment and more food security was created, with two pillars of development that should center the programs - development of human capital, focused on education and health, and food security with agriculture. -business and the mining sector.

Figures were presented that will guide the PDN, relating to the increase in population by 38 million inhabitants by 2027, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to reach 62 billion kwanzas with an annual growth rate of around 3.3%, which will be impacted by non-oil GDP, which is expected to grow by around 5%, with a weight of around 79% of global GDP.

As a perspective, it was mentioned that the public debt ratio fell from 66% to 60% in line with the law of fiscal sustainability, gains in unemployment with a decrease of 5 percentage points, falling from

30 to 25%.

In terms of non-oil exports, an increase is expected from five billion to around 17 billion dollars, and an inflow of foreign direct investment from six billion to USD 14 billion. He highlighted the health sector, where the PDN brings a perspective of an increase in life expectancy from 62 to 63 years, while in education there will be gains in terms of learning in the years of schooling, an increase from

4.2 to 4.6, with a forecast of reaching 6.3 by 2050. In the literacy rate, there is a gain of two percentage points, going from 76 to 78%.

The big difference between the PDN that ended last year and the current one is that there were 23 policies and 80 programs, the current one has 16 policies and 50 programs as a result of rationalization and focus on the Government's actions.

A conversion effort was carried out between the PDN and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with three quarters of the PDN having a direct impact on the 17 SDGs, around 75%, highlighting the current innovation, which focuses on sustainable socio-economic impact with several development pillars.

Awards The Presidential Decree was also presented, which aims to reward micro-small and medium-sized companies in an environment of increased national production, more financing for companies, constant search for simplification and improvement of the business environment.

It also aims to give more visibility to companies that are contributing to the diversification of the economy and the development of the country, having presented the processes and procedures for awarding the prize.

It is expected to stimulate business development, recognize innovative initiatives, encourage national production, encourage the competitiveness and quality of goods and services that adhere to the Made in Angola seal, stimulate economic activity and job creation.

 Oil sector

In the field of oil and gas, the Council of Ministers approved the Amendments to the Production Sharing Contract for the North Block of the Cabinda onshore zone, with the aim of making viable and revitalizing the activities of the aforementioned block which, if successful, will contribute to replenishing reserves and mitigating the decline in oil production in the country.

It also aims to continue to promote the satisfaction of training needs at the level of higher education, taking into account the demand for access to this education subsystem, as well as the implementation of the national policy of promoting employment and valuing national human resources in the areas considered deficits.

 Public good

Mastering the management of public affairs, the CM assessed, for subsequent approval by the National Assembly, the General State Account, referring to the 2022 Fiscal Year, a document that contains information on the macroeconomic framework, the balance of execution of the OGE and its economic impact and social, the annual balance of public debt and the general inventory of public assets, the performance of the public business sector, among other aspects, over that economic year.

In relation to this document, the Council of Ministers noted that, in the aforementioned period, the national economy grew by 3.0%, as a result of the simultaneous growth of the oil and non-oil sectors valued at 0.5% and 3.90%, respectively.

The national inflation rate stood at 13.86%, compared to 27.03% recorded in 2021, while the unemployment rate recorded a consistent reduction throughout the same year, standing at 29.6% at the end of the IV quarter.

The CM also noted that the volume of information in this document has increased, with emphasis on that which has to do with the economic and social impact of the OGE on the lives of citizens, highlighting the results of the National Development Plan (PDN 2018- 2022), the Public Investment Program (PIP) and the Integrated Municipal Intervention Program (PIIM).

PA/PPA/TED/DOJ