Luanda - The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, reiterated Tuesday, in New York, that Angola is making a great effort to put itself on the path of progress and development.
According to the Angolan statesman, who was speaking at the 79th UN General Assembly, his government's policies are structured in the National Development Plan.
He detailed that their main axes are the diversification of the economy, the reduction of public debt, the mobilization of internal revenues, the optimization of public expenditure in the priority areas of health and education and the implementation of specific social protection programs.
He highlighted that the tasks that the Executive is carrying out are complex, therefore, requires time and enough qualified human resources to carry them out successfully.
“But despite this situation, we are witnessing encouraging progress, the benefits of which will be felt over time”, he pointed out.
Along these lines, he clarified that among the successful initiatives is the construction of water transfer systems for areas heavily affected by the drought in southern Angola, where poverty is opening the way to a prospect of prosperity and a more dignified life for populations.
He added that the population of that region now has enough water available to transform arid areas into areas of agricultural production and animal husbandry, with none of the conditions that used to put human and animal survival at risk.
Government Actions
As part of actions to improve the national social framework and create factors that enhance the development of industry and agriculture, according to João Lourenço, the Angolan authorities have embarked on the path of electrifying the country in all its latitudes.
In this scope, he noted that a commitment was made to the production of clean energy with the construction of large hydroelectric dams and photovoltaic parks, meaning that 67% of the country's energy matrix now comes from clean sources and with a tendency to suppress thermal power plants still in operation for the next three years.
“In terms of clean energy production, in addition to the more than 6,500 Megawatts that we produce today, we are building the Caculo Cabaça hydroelectric dam that will produce more than 2,000 Megawatts and we will soon begin the construction of the largest photovoltaic park in the country with financing of US$ 1.5 billion financed by the American EXIMBANK, to power a considerable number of locations in the provinces of Huíla, Cunene, Namibe and Cuando-Cubango off-grid”, he stated.
He added that with these additional energy production projects underway, “the biggest focus at the moment is on public investment or public-private partnerships for the construction of high and medium voltage transmission lines for the east and south of the country, from the perspective of interconnection with the SADC network to the east via Zambia and, to the south, via Namibia”.
He highlighted that Angola currently has a considerable supply of electrical energy production, which lacks transmission and distribution networks to take it to potential beneficiaries in all parts of the country and also to the Southern African countries, which need this resource for its development.
“Interested investors now have the opportunity to sell electricity produced in Angola to customers in the mining exploration areas of DRC and Zambia, as well as to SADC countries in general, with emphasis on the largest industrial and domestic consumer, which is South Africa”, President João Lourenço concluded.
The 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, which began on Tuesday (Sept) at the United Nations headquarters in New York (USA), will run until the 30th of this month.
The debates of this 79th session are chaired by Cameroonian diplomat Philemon Yang and focus on the theme "Leaving no one behind: acting together to advance peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present generations and future ones".
During this period, the Heads of State and Government will speak at the event, raising crucial issues to the Member States.
The UN was officially created on October 24, 1945, after the end of World War II, with the aim of promoting international cooperation and preventing another conflict like that. A total of 193 countries are Member States.
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