João Lourenço was speaking on Friday at the inauguration ceremony of José de Lima Massano, who stepped down on Thursday, at his request, as governor of the Angolan central bank, replacing Manuel Nunes Júnior, exonerated from the position of minister of State for Economic Coordination.
The head of state referred, in his brief speech, that "the economy of any country is something very important", as much as "national security".
"Perhaps more, because even national security itself depends a lot on the health of the country's economy. Everything else depends on the good health of the country's economy", he stressed.
Economic diversification, according to the President, is "the great disease" of the Angolan economy, which is still heavily dependent on oil revenues.
"Therefore, the great challenge for us from now on is to work towards accelerating the process of diversifying our economy", he stressed.
The head of state stressed that it is necessary to "produce much more outside the oil sector and transform more of the countless mineral resources that the country has".
"We transform here, manufacture a set of goods that are essential for the life of the population and in this way increase the range of exportable goods", said João Lourenço, believing that "the task" for José de Lima Massano "maybe not very difficult, judging by his rich resume".
"Judging by the fact that you are coming from the bank, therefore, you will easily know how to mobilize the bank to start financing the national economy more", he stressed.
João Lourenço expressed that he is "very hopeful" in the appointment of José de Lima Massano to the "important position".
"It arrives at a time when it will find a delicate dossier, but we need to solve it not only to the satisfaction of the economy, but also of the citizens who somehow end up being affected", underlined João Lourenço, without specifying the subject.
