Angola with double victory in the African Union

Angola achieved a new diplomatic victory in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, after the election by Executive Commission of the African Union (AU) of two Angolans that will have high responsabilities as top members of this organisation during the following years.

Professor Sebastião Isata and sociologist Paulo de Carvalho were both elected respectively as members of the African Union Commission on International Law (AUCIL) and vice president of Pan African University (PAU) Council, chosen amongst almost twenty other candidates from several countries.

According to the international press, “The election took place on the sidelines of the preparatory work of the 24th Ordinary Summit of Head of State and Government of the AU, scheduled for 30 and 31 this month. The event will be held under the slogan “2015 Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development, Towards agenda 2063 Africa ”

Speaking to the press, the Angolan ambassador to Ethiopia, Arcanjo do Nascimento, said that this diplomatic victory reflects the external prestige of the country and its political leadership, under the President, José Eduardo dos Santos.

Angolans are shopping more in Portugal

Angolan turists are spending more in Portugal through the tax free system, according to data provided by Global Blue, which deals with reimbursing Value Added Tax (IVA) on purchases made by non-EU tourists,

Last year each Angolan visitor to the Portuguese country spent an average 282€ between January and October, mainly buying fashion (68%) and watches (13%). but also high street clothing, The number of purchases has grown 120%, with the Angolans buying more Portuguese products than the Brasilians and Russians.

All together Angolans have spent in 2014 more 21,3% than the year before with Portuguese hotels, totalling 547,3 million euros, Bank of Portugal revealed. The habits of Angolan turists reveal that they prefer shopping to other activities, such as beaches or gastronomy.

TAAG with seven weekly flights to Kinshasa

The Angolan airline TAAG will once again assure transportation between Luanda and Kinshasa. Seven weekly flights will be held to the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The announcement was made this week by the Minister of Transport, Augusto da Silva Tomás, during the the signing of cooperation agreements in the fields of road, rail and air transport between Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The official said that there will also be provided two weekly cargo flights between the two capitals, stressing that there was “only” a few issues to be regulated for the resumption of TAAG operations to Kinshasa. Augusto Tomás also declared that the agreements (road, rail and air) between Angola and the DRC will strengthen cooperation between the two countries and influence the behavior of markets and trade and services between them.

According to the Minister, these protocols will allow for the creation of conditions to legitimize and improve the transportation of people and goods between the two countries.

Angola reinforces participation in World Bank’s IBRD

The Angolan government will acquire 1.032 shares from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

This participation, amounting to USD 5,4 million, will provide Angola with better advantages in order to benefit from the World Bank group financing and the transaction is scheduled be completed by March 2016.

According to the associated presidential decree, Angola’s National Development Plan establishes that the country “should consolidate its relationships with the international financial institutions, such as the World Bank”, “With political measures that promote the increase in volume and improve financial conditions to the key structuring projects in Angola’s economy”.

Signed by president José Eduardo dos Santos, the decree states that the decision to increase the participation on IBRD’s capital by the developing countries has opened an opportunity for an additional 1.032 shares.

With headquarters in Washington, USA, the World Bank group has several financial institutions created in order to promote economic growth and cooperation at a global scale, one of which the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. (Source: Agência Lusa).

Angola with green light to export fish to the European Union

The European Union has included Angola in the list of countries that are authorised to export all fishery products to the European Union (EU). The good news was given the minister of Fisheries, Victoria de Barros Neto in an interview with Angolan news agency Angop.

According to the minister, this was made possible after “various stages of refurbishment of chemistry and microbiology laboratories, staff training and audits.” 2014 was very positive for the Angolan fisheries sector, with a recorded fish production of 396,000 tons, including artisanal, semi-industrial, industrial, marine and continental fishing.

“There are 253 licensed fishing vessels that contribute to this success, along with the involvement of 108 national companies,” said Barros Neto.

The main base ports are Luanda, Benguela, Namibe, Kwanza Sul and Cabinda, and Luanda generally accounts for the largest number of vessels.

The provinces of Benguela and Namibe are important in trolling, with 29 vessels, and 23 seine vessels were also registered in 2014. (Source: Angop).

Zuma meets with Dos Santos about FDLR rebel group

The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma has arrived in Luanda ahead of a meeting with President José Eduardo dos Santos. “The two leaders are expected to discuss matters relating to promoting bilateral relations as well as peace and security in the continent,” a source from the South African presidency declared.

According to agenda, the talks between the two leaders will include the impending fight against the FDLR rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “The UN has threatened military action against the group, after it failed to meet a deadline to disarm and South African troops are expected to be at the forefront of the UN’s action”, eNews Channel Africa writes.

President Dos Santos is currently also the President of the Great Lakes Region International Conference, and his efforts to bring peace, security and stability to the Great Lakes Region have been internationally recognized.

President Zuma arrived in Conakry, Guinea, yesterday for a meeting with president Alpha Condé and is scheduled to attend the inauguration of Mozambique’s newly elected president Filipe Nyusi tomorrow.

Angolan ambassador marched for solidarity with France, in behalf of the Angolan people

Angola expressed its solidarity with the victims of the terror attacks that recently took place in France. Yesterday in Paris, the Angolan ambassador in France, Miguel da Costa (Photo), considered the deadly attacks to have been “A monstrous, indescribable and totally unacceptable act”.

The message, read at the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, expressed the condolences on behalf of the Angolan people, the President of the Republic of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, and on the ambassador’s  behalf.

The Angolan ambassador also participated in Paris, alongside other diplomats, in the march that repudiated the mentioned attacks and was attended by about 2.5 million people. The march also had the participation of several herads of state and government, as well as local politicians.

Last year, in Aril, the Angolan Head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos, made an official visit to France with the aim of reinforcing the bilateral relations, resulting ina  very positive outcome to the relations between Angola and France.

Large industrial hub will start this year in Caála, Huambo

The construction of new factories at the industrial hub in the municipality of Caála, 23 kilometres from the city of Huambo, is scheduled to begin this year according to the words of the municipal administrator, Victor Tchissingui.

The new infrastructure would be installed along 1 million m2, including factories to process “fruit and vegetables, chocolate, biscuits, glass, paint, windows, partitions, hardware, barbed wire and mesh” the same responsible declared to the media, adding that the installation of these plants “will have a direct impact on the fight against unemployment and catapult the development of the local economy”.

The project also includes construction of factories to manufacture solvents, fillers, fluorescent lamps, electric wires and cables, wood pellets, shoes, corn mills for animal feed and mattresses.

According to the municipal administrator’s statement: “The economic forecasts for 2015 are not encouraging in terms of economic growth, due to the fall in oil prices, which sustain the Treasury’s resources to finance public expenditure,”  Therefore, adds Mr. Tchissingui, managers of public institutions in the municipality must contain spending and be rational in the use of the available resources. (Photo: Africa Time)

China is Angola’s main importer, Portugal leads exports

China was the main importer of Angolan products in the third quarter of 2014 and Portugal was the main exporter to Angola in the same period, according to figures issued in Luanda by the Angolan National Statistics Institute and published by online news site ‘Macau Hub’,

China, with a share of 49.5% of all Angolan exports, was followed by a distant Spain with 6.2%, India with 5.6%, the USA with 5.5% and France with 5.1%.

Portugal was Angola’s main trading partner regarding imports by the African country, with 14.7% of the total, then China with 12.6%, Singapore with 11.4%, the USA with 8.8% and the United Arab Emirates States with 5.1%, according to Macau Hub.

“Overall, Angola exported goods (oil and diamonds) worth 1.51 trillion kwanzas, down 11% on 2013 and imported goods in the value 1.16 billion kwanza (76.1% more) , generating a trade surplus of 345.4 billion kwanza, 66.7% less than in the same period of 2013”, concludes the same article.

Portugal wants win-win economic cooperation with Angola

Angola and Portugal top political responsibles spoke in Brasilia, at a high political level, about the ways to reinforce of the existing cooperation between both countries. The conversation was held between the angolan Vice-President Manuel Domingos Vicente and the Portuguese Vice Prime-Mnister, Paulo Portas (photo with President José Eduardo dos Santos taken during a meetingt/Lusa, Archive).

Speaking to the press in the Brasilian capital, Paulo Portas mentioned the “Pleasure and pride to start 2015 talk with the Vice-president of Angola”. “It is a good sign to open the year 2015 talking with Angola, to see that the mutual agenda and meeting was very well oriented for the win-win economic themes”, said the Portuguese vice Prime-Minister.

The Angolan Vice-President represented the Head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos, during the inauguration ceremony of Dilma Rousseff as President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, which took place on 1 January this year.

Portuguese exports to Angola registered a 49,8% growth in the third quarter of 2014 reaching 1,4 billion euros, when compared with the same period last year, according to the recent report by the Angolan Statistical National Institute.