According to the president of ApexBrasil, Jorge Viana, Brazil, under the leadership of Lula da Silva, "is returning to Africa and Angola to help with its development", especially with its vast experience in the agricultural sector and in the formation of cooperatives.
"We need to bring our cooperatives here, so that they can help form cooperatives here with the cooperative technology that Brazil has managed to develop, because cooperatives are something that does not aim for profit, but rather for trade and growth", said Jorge Viana during the Agro Brazil-Angola Business Forum, in Luanda.
Stressing that Brazil "has the largest cooperatives in the world", which can help the Angolan people to form their cooperatives in partnership, Jorge Viana lamented, however, the difficulties faced by Brazilian companies in Angola.
"We have had some difficulties, we have some examples, BR-Foods [a Brazilian company in the agri-food sector], for example, is having problems here", he said, without specifying, noting that this company is being invited to set up operations all over the world.
Speaking at the Guimarães Rosa Institute in Luanda, before an audience made up of Brazilian and Angolan businesspeople, officials from ministerial departments and the ministers of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs, Jorge Viana asked for "differentiated treatment".
"I would like to ask the Angolan government not to see Brazil as just another country coming here wanting to sign cooperation agreements, but to see Brazil as a great opportunity, a country that wants to continue being a brother of Angola", he said.
According to the president of ApexBrasil, Lula da Silva's government "will not give up" on working with African countries, and especially with Angola, defending the need to "establish a strategic relationship where there is differentiated treatment for Brazilian companies", which should not be seen "as a favor, but to give these companies the opportunity to come here and not go elsewhere".
For Jorge Viana, Angola cannot "establish a general rule for the world and place Brazil in that general rule".
"If that happens, we will throw away the opportunities that President Lula da Silva and Angolan President João Lourenço are offering us", he stressed, alluding to the agreements signed in August 2023 during the Brazilian head of state's visit to Angola.
He also highlighted Brazil's experience in agriculture and livestock farming, which should be shared with Angola within the framework of bilateral relations, insisting that Lula da Silva's leadership is a great opportunity for the two Portuguese-speaking countries.
Arlindo Rangel, chairman of the board of directors of the Angolan Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (Aipex), said that the forum aims to strengthen agricultural relations, promote the exchange of experiences, establish strategic partnerships and explore business opportunities between the two countries.
He considered that investment in the Angolan agricultural sector "is timely".
"One of the Angolan State's priorities is food security and economic diversification, with an emphasis on the agricultural sector through increased production of traditional foods for domestic consumption", he stated.
Agribusiness is considered a necessary investment for Angola, and therefore enjoys all the bureaucratic support of Aipex, which translates into tax and customs benefits, legal certainty and simplified procedures that aim to accelerate the completion of business by Brazilian companies in Angola, he assured.
The largest Brazilian community in Africa is in Angola with around 30,000 citizens and close to 200 Brazilian companies operating in the Angolan market, according to data from Aipex.
