Francisco Alegre Duarte was speaking at the Angola-France-Portugal business meeting, organized by the Portugal-Angola Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIPA) and the Angola-France Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CEFA), which was also attended by the French ambassador, Sophie Aubert, and the Minister of Transport, Ricardo Viegas d'Abreu.
In addition to the excessive dependence on oil exports, which "continues to be a weakness for Angola in the face of external shocks", there are other factors that have raised concerns among economic agents, he said.
"Delays in payments, exchange rate instability, difficulties in repatriating capital, inflation, interest rates charged by banks, or the lack of qualified workers are factors that have had a negative impact on companies' operations and investment plans," said the Portuguese diplomat.
In Angola there are more than 1250 Portuguese and mixed capital companies, with a business community of tens of thousands of people, generating business flows worth billions of euros in trade, investment and local production.
Francisco Alegre Duarte stated that Portugal and France are the two international partners that "generate more and better jobs in this country".
He stressed the "excellence" of the relationship between Portugal and Angola, which translates into the "fraternity" of the joint celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, marked in 2024 with the presence of the President, João Lourenço, in Lisbon, and now with the 50th Anniversary of Angola's Independence, whose official celebrations will feature the representation of Portugal at the highest level, on the 11th of November.
The diplomat recalled that the economic presence of Portuguese companies is evident "in all sectors of the economy, in addition to 'oil & gas'", highlighting that the "crucial challenge" for the future of Angola's economy is to go beyond oil.
In this regard, he highlighted that Angola can count on the countries of the European Union to succeed, because they are not in the country "just to extract raw materials" but to build a relationship based on "shared prosperity".
He pointed out the advantages of European financing, which is distinguished "by the value incorporated into the projects" and noted that, despite some communication errors that generate "noise and confusion", the concessionaire of the Lobito Corridor, Lobito Atlantic Railway, is made up of three private European companies, one of which is Mota-Engil, a company that was founded in Angola.
"[As for the investments made], in the order of hundreds of millions of euros – I am talking about investments, not announced loans –, they were the responsibility of European companies", he highlighted.
Francisco Alegre Duarte also pointed out the lack of reciprocity with regard to Social Security, as Angola has not yet ratified the convention on this subject.
"There is still a lack of reciprocity in this matter, as on the Portuguese side we already guarantee Angolan citizens who pay contributions to Social Security in Portugal – and there are already tens of thousands of them – the legitimate right to the portability of their pensions, that is, to receive, as a result of the contributions made throughout their contributory careers, their pensions in euros, not only in Portugal, but also in Angola", he highlighted.
Alegre Duarte also reiterated the central message of Portuguese economic diplomacy, stressing that "the best way for Angola to attract new Portuguese companies – and this also applies to other European companies – is to nurture those that are already here, and that have remained here through good and bad times".
