"We have a strong commitment to working with Angola on its development agenda; we want to be involved in long-term projects, not necessarily easy ones, like the water supply project we visited in Luanda," said the World Bank's number two, Axel van Trotsenburg, in an interview with Lusa from Luanda, as part of the visit that ends this Friday.
"Projects like the water supply project in the capital of a country where about half of Angolans do not have access to drinking water are examples of complex projects that require a long-term vision. We want to be involved in these types of projects because they require a lasting commitment, not only financial, but also analytical and monitoring," added the World Bank's head of development policy and partnerships.
In the interview with Lusa, van Trotsenburg argued that Angola should support economic growth in sectors beyond oil and gas, that are sustainable and that guarantee jobs for the many young people who enter the job market every year.
"We need to consider how to support the country. Many sources of economic growth can be found internally. Angola has benefited enormously from oil and gas, but to ensure sustainability, we increasingly suggest looking at economic diversification, and there is great potential for development in other sectors," he emphasized.
The country, he stated, faces new challenges in its 50th year of independence, and the World Bank's desire is to be increasingly involved in development: "We would like to be very closely involved with Angola, and there is an incredibly good foundation for cooperation, and we will support the country from a financial perspective, whether through our public or private sector, but also through knowledge, an area where we can present analyses and provide the necessary training for Angolan officials to leverage the World Bank Group's knowledge base," said Axel van Trotsenburg.
Over the past six years, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has supported Angola with 1.2 billion dollars, "which demonstrates a strong commitment to Africa," said Axel van Trotsenburg, concluding that the desire to expand involvement also extends to other Portuguese-speaking countries on the continent.
The World Bank executive director concludes a five-day visit to Luanda this Friday, during which he met with President João Lourenço and the country's top leaders and traveled to Benguela, before participating in the economic forum this Friday morning, which will present, among other things, a report on the Angolan economy.
