Zahira Virani, who was speaking at the opening session of the Forum on Financial Inclusion for Development, said that despite advances in the financial inclusion agenda in the country, large segments of the population are still excluded from the financial system, in particular, informal workers, who they are "a vast economic force and a considerable source of employment in Angola".
The minister of Social Action, Family and Promotion of Women said, at the opening of the forum, that statistics indicate the need for greater commitment by Angola in strengthening actions to empower women.
Faustina Alves de Sousa stressed that empowering women is a priority to achieve the objectives of reducing poverty rates, referring that data from the 2014 population census indicate that 52 percent of the population is female and 53 percent are also economically active.
According to the official, the ministry she oversees, in partnership with the Ministry of Economy and Planning, develops policies that promote the sustainable development of women, gender equality and equity, training women, namely in agribusiness and fisheries.
In 2021, according to Faustina Alves de Sousa, the partnership protocol in the field of financial literacy signed between her ministry and the National Bank of Angola made it possible to carry out 105 financial education actions, with a registration of 2737 participants, mostly young women, organized by social groups in 14 provinces of the country.
The minister also highlighted awareness-raising campaigns in eight provinces, which resulted in the opening of 1,020 simplified bank accounts, including "Banquita" and the allocation of 154 multicaixa cards.
In turn, the Secretary of State for the Economy, Dalva Ringote, underlined that the executive "views with significant importance the increase in financial inclusion to improve the lives of many, especially the lives of the most vulnerable".
Dalva Ringote stressed that the Government's vision is to create more opportunities to do business and make each Angolan self-sufficient and economically empowered.
In her speech, the European Union (EU) ambassador to Angola, Jeannette Seppen, highlighted that the Global Europe Instrument allocates an amount of almost 80 billion euros to cooperation with countries outside the EU, in the period 2021-2027, of which 275 million euros are for Angola, for the years 2021-2024.
Jeannette Seppen stressed that the EU's commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and to financial inclusion did not start today, mentioning the project Support for Access to Financing "Envolver", which contributes to capacity building and training in access to credit for micro , small and medium entrepreneurs, and promotes financial literacy.
"'Envolver', led by the Ministry of Economy and Planning and implemented at Inapem [National Institute for Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises], in collaboration with the Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation [of Portugal], opens the door to entrepreneurs understand what kind of solutions are offered by the financial sector to the Angolan economy, to create greater ease of technical interaction between lenders and entrepreneurs", he said.
Seppen said that "incentivized by the desire to contribute to a response to the high rate of informality in Angola, of 75.36 percent on average, and even higher for women and for young people aged 15-24", the European Union supports the Government efforts to formalize and diversify the economy in Angola, through various initiatives.
According to Jeannette Seppen, the EU is working on the preparation of budget support directly to the General State Budget, to contribute to the realization of the Informal Economy Reconversion Program, which aims, among its objectives, to promote the financial inclusion of agents formalizing, through the use of 'Mobile Money', facilitation of access to bank accounts, support for the creation of micro and small companies, and access to microcredits.
