Brazil-Angola bilateral trade expected to grow 21% this year to US$700 million

Rafael Vidal, who was speaking in Luanda as part of the celebrations of the bicentenary of Brazil’s independence, noted that the outlook for the two countries’ economies is favorable, so “the challenge” is to increase trade flows to a level of €1.4 billion (US$1.4 billion).

The diplomat noted that trade is accompanied by investments in infrastructure, agriculture, industry, and health, examples of which are the Cabinda refinery, the Barra do Dante sea terminal, the Lauca hydroelectric plant, and Angola’s first drug factory in the Special Economic Zone of Luanda.

Also under construction are the first pig iron factory, low-cost housing buildings, a gas-based power plant, and rice plantations. There are also prospects for bilateral investment in fertilizer production.

The positive signs, he said, have been favored by the resumption of commercial flights between Luanda and Guarulhos (São Paulo), with the possibility of expanding to 14 weekly frequencies by 2023, depending on the demand of the cargo segment.

He also underlined Brazil’s vocation to support the Angolan agricultural sector, having signed a cooperation program in agriculture in irrigated areas and family farming in June, focusing on the Cunene Valley.

“We trust that the Brazilian experience of transposition of the São Francisco River and irrigation of the semi-arid Northeast of Brazil will be useful to Angola in the development program of the Cunene Valley,” Rafael Vidal stressed.

Soon, the Brazilian embassy in Luanda will also have an agricultural attaché “to support and encourage business partnerships in the agricultural sector and to construct cooperation projects to diversify the Angolan agricultural production base.

Another important area in the scope of the strategic partnership is defense, and an agreement for the training of Angolan troops at the Sergio Vieira de Mello Center in Rio de Janeiro, destined for the United Nations Rapid Response Forces, is at an advanced stage of consultation.

In the health field, the Brazilian government is interested in expanding the pilot project for the implantation and implementation of the Human Milk Bank, inaugurated in November 2019 at the Lucrécia Paim Maternity Hospital, and other projects in the area of training doctors in cardiology and the fight against leprosy.

Rafael Vidal also pointed to humanitarian donations, such as the recent delivery of 1.5 million doses of the triple viral vaccine (rubella, mumps, and measles).

Brazil is also “in an advanced stage of negotiation of a memorandum of cooperation in sustainable tourism, which will promote business partnerships and investments that promote the development of the tourism sector in Angola, with counterparts of environmental sustainability and for the benefit of local communities.

Brazil is one of the countries that has already congratulated the Angolan President, João Lourenço, after the release of the official election results, which are contested by the opposition, and should be validated or not, today by the Constitutional Court.

Rafael Vidal said that Brazil “has always been and will continue to be a preferential partner of Angola in its national development project.

With information from Impala