João Lourenço, who was speaking at the launch ceremony of the pre-campaign of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA), a party in power since the country's independence in 1975, stressed that government policies have managed to promote a good business environment for the country, internationally recognized by creditor organizations, namely the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), as well as by an agency responsible for assessing the state of the countries' economies.
"These agencies that have this responsibility and are not friends with anyone, when they say that economy A or economy B is doing well, it is not because they are friends with this country, it is not because they have been corrupted, because they do not accept being corrupted, they are impartial, they are serious, they do their job and announce the results", he said.
The MPLA president stated that the task of creating a good business environment is an old one, "only it was not done", but the Government he leads is "in fact managing to take important steps in the diversification of the economy".
"Our economy begins to diversify, our economy's dependence on oil revenues begins to gradually reduce. A few days ago it was announced that our economy grew by 0.7 percent last year, but this growth was due to especially thanks to the growth of that part of the economy that has nothing to do with oil or gas, has nothing to do with [state oil company] Sonangol", he said.
According to the MPLA leader and President, the economy grew in the sectors of agriculture, fisheries, tourism, extractive industry, manufacturing, and ornamental stones.
"Especially with an emphasis on agriculture, it was the main responsible for the global growth of the Angolan economy by 0.7 percent in 2021", he underlined.
"Therefore, we are on the right path, for all that I have just told you, it means to say that the executive supported by the MPLA has good policies for the defense of the economy and, consequently, for the defense of the citizen", he added.
João Lourenço said that the five-year term that ends was difficult, with "great challenges to be faced", marked by the covid-19 pandemic, which in practice took two years, leaving the country "almost at a standstill" in the period of confinement, in that people could not leave the house or go to work.
"Fortunately, we found energy. When I say we found it, I don't say I found it, no! We found it, I'm speaking in the plural and very well, all of us together, rulers and ruled, had the wisdom to find the best solutions to overcome these same challenges" , he stressed.
Angola is expected to hold elections in August.
