Admitting "great concern" about food security – which she considered a fundamental pillar of Angola's national development plan until 2027 –, Vera Daves assessed that the great pressure on food prices and indicators is directly related to the capacity to national domestic production.
The country "imports too much and exports too little", in a "vicious cycle" that is reflected in the living conditions of the population, said the minister in an interview with Lusa in Washington, on the sidelines of the 2024 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and of the World Bank.
"A large investment has been made in recent years in family farming and we are starting to see the results. We want to continue investing in family farming, but also increasingly in corporate farming", she said.
"Because we need scale and we need businesses structured enough so that we can close the 'gap' in terms of demand for food internally, and then eventually export to countries in the region", said Vera Daves.
The minister alluded to resources and guarantees that are being placed and provided through public financial institutions to boost business from an agribusiness point of view and indicated that the country is also looking for the experience of others.
"We have repeatedly invited, for example, Brazil and Brazilian businesspeople to join us, because we believe they are very strong in this field, (...) as well as Chinese businesspeople, also (...) very strong in this field. Only to cite two examples. Food security is undoubtedly something we are dedicating a lot to", she assured.
Brazil is one of the largest producers and exporters of agricultural commodities in the world. Beijing has renewed its agricultural policies, diversified agriculture and has been investing in new irrigation and protected cultivation systems, prioritizing science, technology and innovation.
In addition to agriculture, the Minister of Finance considers tourism to be one of the main measures to strengthen the economy and improve the business environment this year.
"We believe that tourism has a lot of potential, mainly for job creation. Angola has a population that grows 3 percent per year, very young, and an unemployment rate, especially among youth, which requires a lot of attention and we want in the near future dedicate attention to tourism", she declared.
The minister pointed to the "difficult decision" to separate the Ministry of Tourism from that of Culture as an example of the importance that is being given to this sector, with the Government committed to removing obstacles so that private investment can take place, tourism can be boosted and places of work are created.
Despite admitting that bureaucracy is still a challenge in the country, Vera Daves referred to "petty corruption" as one of the problems to be resolved, defending the fight from "top to bottom".
"There is an unequivocal commitment from President João Lourenço to combat corruption. The commitment has to come from all of us, so the fight has to be from top to bottom so that we can exterminate petty corruption (...) so that anyone who wants to do business in Angola can do so with peace of mind, without having to worry about compensation to have the systems handled", she advocated.
The minister believes that if we are all committed to this vision and agenda, "certainly within a reasonable period of time", Angola will be "better for everyone, more inviting" and "everyone can be more prosperous".
