Luanda - Angola has improved, over the last five years, its image with organisations and international partners, due, essentially, to the Executive's keen economic diplomacy.
By Francisca Augusto, ANGOP journalist
Throughout that period, marked by profound reforms, especially in the economic field, the country achieved visible gains at the diplomatic level.
In fact, economic diplomacy, a hallmark of the current Executive, is placing Angola on the route of the world's major companies and helping it to attract more investors.
With these gains, the Angolan State has secured partnerships for the execution and materialisation of several strategic projects.
As a result of the Executive's action, until 2018, Angola obtained global funding of US$11.2 billion and a further 579 million euros for various internal projects.
In Africa alone, for example, Angolan diplomacy helped liberalize a loan from the African Development Bank (ADB), valued at US$110 million. The amount was made available for the promotion of agriculture, and is currently being used in the province of Cabinda.
In addition to funding, the diplomatic action resulted in the return of the South African multinational De Beers, which had left the country, as well as American investments in the clean energy and telecommunications sectors.
Proof of this is the implementation of the telephone operator Africel, which has become the second largest in the country, surpassing, according to available data, Movicel, in terms of customers.
The action of Angola's economic diplomacy, in the field of clean energies, also resulted in the implementation of the megaproject of seven solar power plants, two of which in Benguela (Biópio and Baía Farta), in operation since 2022.
The others are in Cuito (Bié), Luena (Moxico), Bailundo (Huambo) and Saurimo (Lunda-Sul), in an investment of more than 500 million euros.
For these achievements, Angola has relied on the financing of the consortium that brings together the North American company Sun Africa LCC and the Portuguese construction company MCA (M.Couto Alves, S.A.).
Since July 2022, the country has been on the list of solar energy producers in Africa, with the start of operation of the first two 285 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power plants in coastal Benguela province.
With an expected total installed power of 188.8 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply more than one million people, the photovoltaic plant in the commune of Biópio, municipality of Catumbela, is the largest solar energy project in Angola, totaling 509, 040 solar panels.
The second solar power plant, with 96 megawatts of power, benefits half a million consumers and is on the outskirts of the municipal town of Baía Farta, in an area of 186 hectares. It has 261, 360 solar modules.
With regard to the results of economic diplomacy, political analyst Matias Pires highlighted the achievements of the Executive led, since 2017, by President João Lourenço.
For the specialist, who was speaking to ANGOP on this subject, Angola has been gaining prestige in the field of economic diplomacy, despite being a process that requires patience, taking into account the starting indicators found by the Head of State, in 2017
He recalled that João Lourenço came to power at a time when the country was experiencing a deep economic recession, since 2014, aggravated by the abrupt drop in oil prices on the international market and the emergence, in 2020, of Covid-19.
Matias Pires said that the country ended up feeling the same effects, but managed to capitalize on foreign investment from the Iberian Peninsula, the United States and Saudi Arabia, the last which, in the past, was not part of the matrix from the point of view of Angolan economic cooperation.
“But we can also evolve a little towards the center and look at Turkey, which seeks to intensify cooperation with Angola. We had President Erdogan's visit to the country, with Turkish Airlines connections," he said, before that country was shaken by an earthquake, the consequences of which are quite devastating.
He also pointed out the expanded financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which allowed for the restructuring of the economy, and the reduction of restrictions on access to foreign currency by correspondent banks.
In his view, the lack of currency restrictions has improved the business environment, as it allows foreign investors to export their dividends in foreign currency.
The important thing is to look at the fact that a series of internal measures have been taken, with a view to improving the business environment, either through the facilitation of visas, or with their exemption in certain States, such as South Africa", underlined.
The 'Simplifica' process, which aims to reduce bureaucracy in procedures, the revision of the Law on Private Investment, the fight against corruption and the end of monopolies to encourage free and healthy competition have contributed to the continuous improvement of Angola's image abroad.
Angola also joined the transparency initiative in extractive industries, which allows international institutions dedicated to these areas to supervise tax payments in terms of oil exploration contracts and others, thus guaranteeing transparency in the vital sector of the economy. FMA/AL/VM
