Soyo - The vision of Angola's first president, António Agostinho Neto, on the economy and social welfare, is perfectly aligned with the current Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations Organisation (UNO).
This was stated by university lecturer Lando Emanuel Pedro, for whom Neto had a clear idea when he proclaimed agriculture as the basis and industry as the decisive factor for the country's sustainable development.
Addressed by ANGOP on the life and work of the National Hero, the academic recalled that the Sustainable Development Goals call for global action aimed at eliminating poverty, protecting the environment and climate and ensuring that people enjoy peace and prosperity.
‘Agostinho Neto already had the vision that in order to eradicate hunger and poverty it was necessary to invest in agriculture and industry, the latter sector to enable the transformation of the products produced and thereby generate a value chain, more income and jobs,’ he emphasised.
According to the source, the SDGs are aligned with social welfare by ensuring not only production, but also sustainable transformation and consumption.
He also noted that this vision is in line with the policies that have been created by the Angolan Executive aimed at diversifying the national economy and therefore the country's sources of income, by investing in agriculture, industry and other productive branches in a sustainable way.
‘Producing and transforming products is the right way to go, but in a sustainable way, without damaging the environment and jeopardising future generations,’ he said.
The country is observing National Hero Day to mark the death and birth of António Agostinho Neto.
The first President of Angola was born on 17 September 1922 in the village of Caxicane, Icolo e Bengo and died of illness on 10 September 1979 in Moscow, Russia. PMV/JL/DAN/DOJ
