Luanda - Angola remains committed to taking appropriate political measures for the implementation of the 'Agreement on Mobility between CPLP member states', approved in 2021, during its rotating presidency, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, said on Friday in São Tomé and Príncipe.
According to the minister, who was speaking at the opening of the 29th Ordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), the populations of the organisation have a high expectation that the Mobility Agreement, already in force, will in fact be a mechanism to facilitate free movement between member states.
For Téte António, the community hopes that the agreement will come especially to benefit young people, thus creating an environment conducive to cultural, educational and professional exchange, underlining that when fully in force, the Mobility Agreement will reduce not only bureaucratic barriers, but also strengthen ties of cooperation and solidarity.
He also welcomed the favourable assessment of the 'Pilot Action for Community and Social Extension' project, submitted by Angola, an initiative with an investment of more than 460,000 euros, and which will have its first phase in Portugal, followed by Brazil and Cape Verde, for young people aged up to 30 years, descendants of CPLP countries.
He said that because he recognized the importance of this initiative, Angola joined it and secured co-financing in the amount of 100,000 euros, with the commitment to promote the inclusion and development of young people in the CPLP.
Internal Plan
In his speech, Téte António spoke of the quarterly growth with seasonal adjustment, year-on-year change and cumulative growth rates throughout the year, recorded by Angola in the first quarter of this year.
He pointed out that the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported that Angola experienced the highest economic growth in the last nine years in the first quarter of 2024, with the successive slowdown in inflation, stressing that the performance results from the stability of the exchange rate, gradual withdrawal of fuel subsidies and the updating of public transport prices.
He said that the other factor pointed out in the report, for these positive economic results, has to do with the increase in the supply of nationally produced goods, as reflected in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which registered its highest growth rate since 2015.
'This recognition validates and reinforces the strategy of diversification of the economy currently underway in Angola, as well as the current debt management procedures and prudent fiscal policies that have allowed GDP to grow to 5% in 2023, and is expected to reach 6% percent in 2024, with the contribution of the agricultural sectors, industry and mines', he informed.
He pointed out that Angola attracted USD 1.5 billion in foreign direct investment in 2023 and that two thousand kilometres of new roads were built in the same period, in a total investment of USD 1 billion, with 40 thousand new jobs created in the construction sector.
In the health sector, it advanced, USd 600 million was invested to improve hospitals and health centres, resulting in an increase in life expectancy to 62 years, education benefited from USd 400 million for the construction of new schools and teacher training, raising the literacy rate to 85%.
Multilateral Plan
The minister clarified that Angola remains committed to pursuing several agendas, with emphasis on the pro-tempore presidencies of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), until next August, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union.
He recalled that Angola currently holds the first vice-presidency of the African Union, preparing to assume the presidency of the organization next year, which will coincide with the ceremony of the 50th anniversary of National Independence.
He highlighted that the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, remains engaged in the search for a solution for peace and reconciliation on the continent, within the framework of the mandate given to him by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, for peace and reconciliation in Africa.
In recognition, he continued, President João Lourenço was appointed by the AU, as a result of the 1218th Meeting of the Peace and Security Council as minister of the Ad-Hoc Presidential Committee for Sudan, whose main mission is to seek solutions to the Sudanese conflict.
Candidacy
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, in his speech, announced that Angola has appointed Ambassador Oliveira Francisco Joaquim Enconge, current permanent representative to the CPLP, as a candidate for the position of executive secretary of the organization, for the 2025-2027 term, reserved for the country.
'With the vast experience accumulated throughout diplomatic life, and in particular, at the service of the CPLP, Angola is convinced that Ambassador Oliveira Enconge is the right personality to continue the reforms and achievements achieved in recent years by the CPLP', he stressed.
The CPLP is an international organization formed by Portuguese-speaking countries, whose objective is the 'deepening of mutual friendship and cooperation among its members'.
The CPLP was created on July 17, 1996 and Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste are part of it. VIC/DOJ
