During his acceptance speech for the Economic Diplomat of the Year award, granted by the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Francisco Alegre Duarte argued that Portugal's line of investment and export financing for Angola should be expanded to allow for more investment beyond public works.
"We are in a position where we could diversify this line of financing beyond the exclusive focus on public works; this diversification would be very advantageous for both parties," said the ambassador.
In the case of Portugal, it would allow us to enhance the Portuguese business fabric in other sectors of activity, such as tourism, agro-industry, health and technical-professional training, areas in which Portuguese companies have recognized capacity for innovation and experience, and could be an added value for the expansion of our economic presence in Angola – and of Angola in Southern Africa", he added.
On the other hand, "for Angola, which is responsible for indicating, in conjunction with the Portuguese Government, the priorities of the projects to be allocated to the line, this diversification could contribute to the pursuit of a broader range of objectives in its National Development Plan and accelerate the reduction of the weight of oil in the economy".
Portugal's sovereign-guaranteed financing line to support exports and development was increased from 1.5 to 2 billion euros in 2023, and then to 2.5 billion euros last year, being "the largest credit line with third countries, and also the largest within the CPLP, which reflects its strategic importance as an instrument of Portugal's economic diplomacy with the Angolan government".
In his speech, the Portuguese ambassador to Angola since 2022 highlighted the importance of the country for the expansion of Portuguese companies and said that "that maxim by Frank Sinatra dedicated to New York 'If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere', or, in a formula that reflects a certain pride and esprit de corps of those who work in Angola: 'If this were easy, there would be others here'" applied.
Recalling the more than 200 visits made during his term and ensuring that "the agenda of Portuguese and Portuguese-Angolan companies is the agenda of the Portuguese Embassy in Luanda", Francisco Alegre Duarte also defended a reinforcement of the operating capacity of Caixa Angola, which belongs to the Caixa Geral de Depósitos group.
"Our financial muscle has been clearly decreasing and today constitutes a weakness for our economic presence in Angola", he stated, recalling that "since the collapse of Banco Espírito Santo Angola in 2014 and the sale of BPI to CaixaBank in 2017, the Portuguese presence in Angolan banking has practically been limited to Banco Caixa Geral Angola".
He added: "Despite its organic growth and today being the most profitable stock on the BODIVA stock exchange, Caixa Angola is, on the scale of Angola, a small bank, and it cannot, on its own, provide private capital to provide robust support to our companies and foster the country's economic diversification. I ask whether it would not make sense to consider reinforcing Caixa Angola's capital to give it more muscle in the Angolan banking sector."
The weak Portuguese financial presence is not, however, the only challenge highlighted by the ambassador, who in his speech also highlighted the issue of the portability of Social Security contributions made by the Portuguese in Angola.
"This is a situation that must be corrected; it is an important step towards achieving effective mobility – a goal that goes far beyond the issue of visas – but also because of the negative effects on our companies and on the evolution of the Angolan economic fabric, since the economic changes that Angola needs require the attraction and retention of talent, that is, qualified people", he said.
Regarding the country's challenges, among which he mentioned the issues of debt repayment, currency devaluation, inflation, interest rates, difficulties in repatriating capital, obstacles to import licenses, excessive bureaucracy, challenges of legal predictability and the lack of qualified labor, the ambassador concluded that "the greatest structural challenge is that of economic diversification."
