The announcement of the first export of 23 tonnes of food products from Angola to the United States of America (USA) was one of the news events that marked the week in the economic field, which ends today, Saturday.
The initiative by Angolan food processing company Food Care is part of the American Growth and Opportunity for Africa Act (AGOA).
Among the food stuffs exported from Angola are cassava flour and corn, cassava leaves, mushrooms, peanuts and peanut butter.
According to the counsellor of the US Embassy in Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe, Mea Arnold, the action is the result of a partnership between the company “Food Care” and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
AGOA gives eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for more than 1,800 agricultural products.
This week’s highlight was also the presentation of the balance of the first phase of the Programme for the Reconversion of the Informal Economy (PREI), which has been underway in the country since 2018, having removed more than 250,000 workers from informality.
The figures were released by the Minister of Public Administration, Labour and Social Security, Teresa Dias, during the opening of the first International Forum for the Conversion of the Informal Economy.
Also, within the scope of PREI, the focus was on the 5,000 operators who received micro-loans totalling around 8 billion kwanzas, according to the president of the National Institute for Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (INAPEM), João Nkosi.
In the field of transport, the focus was on the participation of 15 companies specialized in the management of airport infrastructures in the presentation session of the potentialities and terms of reference for the tender for the concession of the management of the new Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport (AIAAN).
The event was joined by companies from Europe, the United States, China and Latin America that, in addition to knowing the strategic plan to turn the new airport into a hub, learned that the concession has a period of 25 years, extendable for another 15 years.
The meeting also served to let interested parties know the eligibility criteria, based on financial capacity, set above 150 million dollars.
In this sector, the meeting between the Minister of Transport, Ricardo D’Abreu, and international financial institutions that probe projects in the field of transport also made headlines.
During the meeting, representatives of Deutsche Bank, a German bank and the DFC-American financial institution, assured the availability of funds to jointly contribute to the construction of structuring projects in Angola, especially transport.
In the railway sector, the Luanda Railway (CFL) announced the transportation of 782,700 passengers in 2022, compared to the 209,440 of the average recorded until 2017.
The number of passengers transported last year is the result of the 16 daily frequencies, operated by trains on the normal route from Monday to Friday, at a fare ranging between 200 and 2,500 kwanzas.
Another fact that deserved to be highlighted was the registration of 100 investment projects, valued at more than one billion dollars.
These are projects in the tourism, industry, energy and water and health sectors, among others, which will contribute to the growth of the national economy and generate more than 5,000 jobs, according to the president of the Agency for Private Investment and Promotion of Exports in Angola (AIPEX), Lello Francisco.
Source: Angola Press News Agency