Benguela - The president of the Higher Polytechnic Institute of Benguela (ISPB), Antero Moisés Nunguno, believes that President Joe Biden's visit to Angola, dedicated to strengthening bilateral cooperation, can bring several social gains, especially in the region crossed by the Lobito Corridor.
With the Lobito Corridor at the top of the agenda, the President of the United States began a 3-day state visit to Angola on Monday, and on Wednesday, December 4, he will be working in the province of Benguela.
In an interview with ANGOP, Professor Antero Moisés Nunguno predicts that Joe Biden's visit can promote closer relations between the two peoples, also enabling greater collaboration in areas such as education, health and social development.
For the academic, this visit to Benguela can also encourage the increase of US investments in the region, which will result in initiatives that improve the infrastructure of education and health and, consequently, benefiting the local population.
'Possibly speaking for the case of Benguela, the first gain will consist precisely in the consequences of strengthening bilateral relations,' he stressed, for whom one of the advantages of cooperation is the support for social projects.
In his view, the Lobito Corridor will provide that there are precisely projects with a direct impact on the lives of the populations, within the scope of the social responsibility of the various companies that will be involved in this railway project in the provinces covered.
At stake are four provinces through which the corridor passes, namely Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico.
Hence it is expected that it has a very large gain in support for social projects aimed at the consequent reduction of poverty and the promotion of social inclusion and improvement of the quality of life in needy communities.
International visibility
On the other hand, he believes that this visit also has the possibility of increasing the visibility of Angola and particularly Benguela on the international scene, attracting attention to social and cultural issues that need so much support.
'And here we cannot forget that with greater investment in our province, consequently, we will have more jobs, less crime, a very large social impact that we need so much to improve', he argues.
Likewise, he took the opportunity to mention as another important aspect the process of democratization and human rights, as they have to do with the best governance practice that has an impact on the life of the citizen.
The chairman of the Board of Directors of the Projovem Foundation, Ricardo Lourinho, says that President Joe Biden's visit to Benguela is of great importance not only from an economic point of view, but also in the social sphere.
According to him, the importance of the Lobito Corridor will catalyze large investors, which, to a certain extent, will improve the employability situation and, therefore, the social good of the populations in the localities crossed by the Benguela Railway (CFB).
In turn, the director of the governmental organization Action for Rural Development and Environment (ADRA), in Benguela, Justino Figueiredo, sees Joe Biden's visit as a unique opportunity for Angola to accelerate its economic diversification.
'The United States has an economic potential that can help the Angolan economy with a set of technical and financial assistance,' he stressed, visibly expectant.
However, he argues that bilateral cooperation should be focused on people and sustainable development, with the participation of communities.
Figueiredo would like to see, for example, the effects of the new funding of one billion dollars for food security, announced by the US President, in reducing poverty, hunger, malnutrition and malaria.
This visit, Joe Biden's last abroad as US President, fulfills the promise to visit Sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency and aims to strengthen the Lobito Corridor project, which connects the resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Angolan port of Lobito, in the Atlantic Ocean. JH/CRB/DOJ
