"At the World Bank level, we have several agreements and projects, two in agriculture and we are preparing a third project also in agriculture, which is the strengthening, or continuity, of the project that is in force at the moment [the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (PDAC)", said Victor Hugo Guilherme in an interview with the Lusa agency in Washington.
"We want to double in terms of value, we have some restrictions, but the project is valued at 500 million dollars", revealed the minister, in the interview on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which take place this week in the North American capital, in which he participates.
This new project worth 500 million dollars is added to the budgetary support of 500 million dollars, which will still be accounted for in the 2024 General State Budget, approved by the World Bank just this week, contrary to what is usual, as this support Direct to budget is typically approved by mid-fiscal year.
"From 500 million in budgetary support we can finance areas that traditionally do not receive external support for financing, such as agriculture and public works", explained the minister.
Energy, water and transport are not included "because they have specific projects, and this 500 million dollars of budgetary support is for the rest, such as agriculture, fishing and the environment, which within the Budget are activities that have no guarantee of other financing ", he said.
Furthermore, the new budget of 500 million for PDAC "serves to support families, support cooperatives and families organized in cooperatives, and also young people", Victor Hugo Guilherme told Lusa.
The minister detailed that this is "almost a continuation of the project that is being implemented at the moment" from a 230 million dollars envelope financed by the World Bank and also by the French Development Agency.
In the interview with Lusa, the Minister of Planning argued that agriculture should be the engine of the Angolan economy and that "we must forget about oil", regretting that the country does not use the arable land it has: "We must be the country in the world with more unused arable land", he concluded.
