According to the ADB representative in Angola, Pietro Toigo, the financial institution currently has an active portfolio of projects in the country worth 1.2 billion dollars and an expected investment of 1.5 billion dollars over the next five years.
"It may seem like a lot, but it is a drop in the ocean, considering the demographic challenges of employability and transformation that Angola is currently facing", said Pietro Toigo when speaking at the launch ceremony of Angola's National Strategy 2024-2029 and celebration of 60 years from BAD, Thursday night.
Pietro Toigo said that in developing the strategy they intend to seek more partnerships and co-financing platforms, to minimize implementation costs and maximize resources, expressing satisfaction with the various collaborations with other institutions in France, Japan, the European Investment Bank and China.
The ADB representative in Angola thanked these partners for their trust and openness, pledging to work to expand opportunities, welcoming Brazil's entry into the Portuguese-speaking compact, which "will boost this mechanism for accelerating the development of the private sector in African countries of Official Portuguese Language [PALOP]".
"With its in-depth knowledge in the agricultural area, a dynamic sector and recent experience of economic transformation and poverty reduction, Brazil will be an essential partner for the ADB and Angola", he highlighted.
As a bank on the African continent, continued Pietro Toigo, the ADB will contribute not only with financial resources, but with knowledge and sharing of experiences.
For the private sector, the official highlighted the challenges in financing private companies in Angola, admitting that, since Angola's entry into the ADB in 1980, "there have never been investments" for this sector.
"We want to change this. Faced with accelerating economic diversification, stabilizing macroeconomic reforms and a strategy to open up to private investment, we strongly believe that we have the conditions to change this historic gap", he said.
The official highlighted that they intend to create the conditions to accelerate private investment, supporting the public sector's capacity in structuring public-private partnerships, through risk mitigation instruments, as well as technical and legal assistance services to the public and private sector.
Speaking to the press, the Minister of Planning, Victor Hugo Guilherme, said that the ADB can help the private sector to transform its ideas into bankable projects.
"The development of a country passes through the private sector and the ADB is open to supporting the private sector in this aspect and we embrace this idea of the African bank, but we also ask the bank to support the private sector especially in the preparation of its own projects", he highlighted.
