Luanda – Angolan minister of State for Economic Coordination Manuel Nunes Júnior Tuesday described trust, security, credibility and reputation as crucial for attracting investment and financing.
Speaking at the opening session of the Meeting of the Supervisory Committee of the Financial Information Unit (UIF), the official said that Angola has reported progress in the fight against bad practices in the Angolan financial system.
He spoke of the need for the country to increasingly show to its partners and the international financial supervision bodies the progress it has achieved in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
“We must be capable to show, in this evaluation process, the progress the country has attained in terms of combat money laundering, terrorism financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” said the official.
Manuel Nunes Júnior went on saying that the aim is to ensure the rest of the world's confidence in the national financial system.
To him, “in the financial and business world, trust, security, credibility and reputation are crucial for attracting investments and financing”.
“This preparatory meeting for the assessment that Angola will be submitted in June 2022, by the International Financial Action Group (GAFI), should imply the guarantee of technical compliance with the rules and procedures that the country applies”, he said.
In this sense, the minister argued, the effectiveness of the system to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of destruction must be highlighted.
According to him, "at the time of the evaluation, in 2022, the way in which the system reacts to eventual irregularities will be taken into account, as this will determine a positive evaluation, as proof that our system is strong, reliable and solid".
He explained that such assessment is based on theoretical and practical rules and procedures, in its action on illegal activities, with a view to increasing the credibility of the Angolan financial system, in order to increasingly attract investment to Angola.
Manuel Nunes Júnior called on the technical working group of the UIF, made up of members of the Ministries of Interior, Finance, the National Bank of Angola (BNA) and the Attorney General's Office (PGR), to work closely together so that there is consistency and Angola obtains a positive assessment.
“This committee is tasked with ensuring that the evaluators of the Anti-Money Laundering Group in Southern and East Africa recognise the significant progress that the country has been implementing,” he clarified.
