Luanda - The secretary-general of the SADC Parliamentary Forum (FP-SADC), Boemo Sekgoma, on Tuesday praised Angola for having achieved significant economic progress in recent years.
Speaking at the opening of the 55th Plenary Assembly of the FP-SADC, she revealed that Angola is, today, one of the countries with a rapidly growing economy in the SADC region.
According to the parliamentarian, the country's flexible policies resulted in an increase in foreign investment, in order to guarantee more jobs for many national citizens.
“Angola is moving towards sustainable development and continues to be a strong economic partner at SADC level and a promising pillar in implementing the aspirations of the African Union 2063 addendum”, she expressed.
She also praised the National Assembly of Angola for introducing responsible legislation and budgets to provide democracy.
In his view, this symbiosis between the Executive and the Angolan Parliament has been mutually beneficial 'and, clearly, is an example for other countries to follow'.
For her part, the president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (UIP), Túlia Ackon, highlighted, in her intervention, the climate crises, which, in her opinion, require an immediate transition to new energies and that parliamentarians must act punctually and quickly.
Túlia Ackon made it known that the SADC region has solar, wind, water and biomass energy and praised the countries in the region that have already made great efforts to follow the path to renewable energy.
“Our legislation and our budgets must be aligned to achieve these objectives”, warned the president of the UIP.
The secretary general of the Parliamentary Forum of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (FP-CIRGL), Onyango Kakoba, highlighted the importance of the role that parliaments play in issues associated with climate change and the use of clean and renewable energy.
For the parliamentarian, the Great Lakes and the Southern Region, within their economic and environmental process, must embrace this challenge.
He noted that parliaments play a big role in this transformation, in identifying and creating robust laws and policies for the development of renewable energy.
In another aspect, he gave a positive note to the efforts of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, in the pacification of the Great Lakes region and in the elaboration of a peace roadmap for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The 55th Plenary Assembly of the PF-SADC is taking place under the motto “The role of parliaments in promoting renewable energy policies in the SADC Region and in the creation of a single regional energy market”.
It is the fifth time that the National Assembly of Angola hosts a meeting of the SADC Parliamentary Forum.
Established in September 1997, the SADC Parliamentary Forum, based in Windhoek, Namibia, provides a platform for dialogue between the parliaments of the 15 SADC Member States on issues of regional interest and concern.
It has the support of more than 3,500 parliamentarians from Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. DC/VIC/DOJ
