Francisco Alegre Duarte was speaking this Monday to journalists after a meeting of Portuguese and Angolan businessmen organized by the Portugal-Angola Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The diplomat highlighted the positive balance until mid-2023, which culminated with the departure of Prime Minister António Costa to Angola, with "an unequivocal sign of confidence in the Angolan economy" which translated into increased financing from 1500 to 2000 million euros.
"A great help for Angola and for Portuguese companies" at a time when the external financing capacity is "in retraction", he added.
Regarding the difficulties currently faced by companies, he confirmed that the situation is "more adverse", with a sharp depreciation of the kwanza and a tendency for inflation to rise in recent weeks, but he believes that the measures being taken by the government Angolan will have an effect.
"We have to wait a little and see", said the official, stressing that the Portuguese companies that are in Angola "are in good times and bad, in good times and not so good", indicating that difficulties and problems can turn into opportunities.
"I think this more difficult situation is an incentive for us to carry out economic diversification in Angola in key sectors such as agri-food, industry or tourism", he suggested, stating that Portuguese and mixed capital companies will be at the forefront in all these sectors.
On the package of measures approved on Friday by the Angolan government, which in addition to measures to support national production and stimulate the economy, also includes fiscal measures and cuts in investment, he considered "natural that in a context of scarcity of foreign exchange there are increased difficulties".
Even so, he left a message of "serenity and confidence" to the businessmen: "We are in permanent contact with our companies, we are closely monitoring and listening to our businessmen, we will wait and see".
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the meeting, the president of the Portugal-Angola Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIPA) also considered that companies, despite being "naturally fearful", are capable of reacting to the current economic context.
"The most important thing is to know how to react to challenges", said the head of this associative structure, stressing that the keyword is "uncertainty" since it is not known whether the current situation will be short, medium or long term.
"Companies are being cautious, but that doesn't mean they don't believe that better times will come. Obviously they have to be resilient and Portuguese companies have been in Angola in a long-term perspective", he added.
