Angola seeks Spanish investment to diversify its economy

More than 70 Spanish companies participated in the meeting

Angolan Finance Minister Augusto Archer de Sousa takes part in an event organised jointly by the State Secretariat for Trade, CEOE and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

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Angola needs to change its economic and productive model to end its dependence on oil and to do so it needs foreign investment in the sectors that it considers strategic, such as infrastructure, renewable energy, health, new technologies or agri-food.

 

This was highlighted during the business meeting held with the Angolan Minister of Finance, Augusto Archer de Sousa, in an event organized jointly by the Secretary of State for Trade, CEOE and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.

 

“Currently,” said the Minister of Finance, “we are in the midst of adapting to a new economic paradigm. Our economy depends on the oil export And although prices have recovered in recent months, we know that we will not return to the previous situation.”

 

To carry out this adaptation, Augusto Archer de Sousa He explained to the more than 70 companies that participated in the meeting that his government has the Spanish companies to do what Angola become a “multi-exporting” country again.

 

 

 

The president of the Development Bank of Angola, Manuel Neto Da Costa, referred during his speech to the strategy that the Angolan government has already implemented to regularize the debt that Angola has with Spanish companies.

 

 

 

The Secretary of State for Trade, Marisa Poncela, highlighted the efforts made by the Angolan government with measures such as the containment of expenses or the containment of public debt and reminded the Spanish companies the lines that exist for the co-financing of investment projects in that country. “Spanish companies in Angola are generating employment and added value and the technological relevance of the Spanish projects currently being carried out in that country is highlighted,” he said.

 

For his part, the president of the CEOE Foundation, Jose Maria Lacasa, recalled that currently a total of 50 Spanish companies are in that market, the second most important destination for Spanish investments in sub-Saharan Africa. Lacasa said that both the investment and foreign trade data do not reflect the true potential of both economies.

 

The International Director of the Chamber of Commerce of Spain, Alfredo Bonet, referred to the Angolan government's plan to diversify its economy and stated that Spanish companies can contribute to this process, because they are leaders in all those sectors that Angola considers strategic for its economic change.

 

Debt to Spanish companies

 

Finally, the president of the Development Bank of Angola, Manuel Neto Da Costa, referred during his speech to the strategy that the Angolan government has already implemented to regularize the debt that Angola has with Spanish companies. “Our commitment is to pay the certified debt, because we want to create good expectations for Spanish companies,” he concluded.