"Angola cannot carry out empty chair politics, as they say in diplomacy", said Vera Daves de Sousa, in an interview with Lusa on the sidelines of her participation in the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings, taking place this week in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Asked about the main advantages of these meetings that bring together, in addition to a large part of the employees and shareholders of the two institutions, investors, financiers, bankers and directors of rating agencies, the minister replied that presenting the reforms and saying what she wants are two important aspects of these meetings.
"I'm going to talk about financial instruments, which must be larger in size and access more expeditious, so that access to funds is not a 'sacred way', defending greater local content whenever there are projects with multilateral institutions, because there is a large room for improvement, the project even exists, but most of it revolves around companies that aren't even in Angola, which is why the money doesn't circulate in Angola", stressed the government official.
Furthermore, the Meetings allow "to hold bilateral meetings and share information about how Angola is doing, to meet with the senior management of the IMF and the World Bank and with investors", to "keep the flame burning" and give the possibility of giving explanations so that, when the country turns to the market, "continue to believe in Angola".
For Vera Daves de Sousa, the presence in Marrakesh allows the meeting with these agents "and understand what type of financial solutions can be built together", namely with the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the banks that finance Angola and with rating agencies, "ensuring that they are on top of what is happening, and providing access to information", providing a "vision of the future" and what the country wants to have financed.
Asked about a recent report by the United Nations Economic Commission on the influence of rating agencies on the continent's risk perception, in which it harshly criticized financial rating agencies for negatively assessing the real quality of sovereign credit, Vera Daves de Sousa said there is work to be done on both sides.
"There is work to be done from both sides, there are rating agencies that are already delving deeper into the reality of the African continent than others", she stated, adding that "it is very important to have people who know the local reality when presenting the case of Angola in London or Dubai", where analysts from Moody's and Standard & Poor's are based.
On the countries' side, she concluded, there is also work to be done: "We have to be agile and diligent in sharing information, it cannot be an ordeal to access information, even in Portuguese, we have to make access to information easier for those who wants to hear from us."
