Fertilizers, seeds and pesticides are raw materials that the country still imports in large quantities for agricultural production.
Sérgio Santos spoke this Friday in Luanda at the signing ceremony of memoranda between the National Institute for Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (INAPEM) and operators of trade and distribution and suppliers of raw materials, as part of the economic relief measures due to covid-19.
"We still need to import raw materials that are not produced in Angola, fertilizers are a paradigmatic case, so are seeds and pesticides, but we want to make that announcement that, gradually, we will have to reduce that import," he said.
To reverse the import scenario, the government invited entrepreneurs to build an industry to mix fertilizers, a chemical industry to produce pesticides, as well as to assemble seed multiplication units.
Without revealing how much the state spends on importing fertilizers and other raw materials for agriculture, Sérgio Santos assured "support with other lines of financing for those who want and have the capacity to set up these units in the country.
"Because the country needs fertilizers, if not made, at least mixed here", he noted.
In relation to the memoranda for financing signed this Friday between the operators and INAPEM under the 17.6 billion kwanza credit line from the Banco de Desenvolvimento de Angola (BDA), the government thanked the entrepreneurs for their participation in the process.
"The economic relief measures that the executive presented are now materializing, so we thank the businessmen who join us in these measures to materialize, because in this very difficult situation companies and families need real actions to happen", he stressed.
The need for better control and monitoring of credit lines within the scope of the economic relief measures defined by the Government was also pointed out by the Governor, stating that the same will be done by INAPEM.
