Doha - Angola is from a political, military and social point of view, one of the safest countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to make investments, said Tuesday in Doha capital city of Qatar, the Secretary of State for Agriculture and Livestock, João da Cunha.
The government official, who was speaking at a seminar on "Agriculture and private investment," held as part of Angola's participation in Expo Doha 2023, said that in addition to these factors, the country offers other conditions and business opportunities for national and foreign investors.
In the event held in the Angola pavilion at Expo, with the presence of the Angolan minister of Environment, Ana Paula de Carvalho, the Secretary of State said that the country has many natural resources mainly oil, with the decision of diversifying the economy by strong investments in agriculture, because it cannot live on crude oil alone.
"We have laws that allow those who invest in Angola to be free of taxes for many years, conditions that are more than favourable compared to other countries in the region," said João da Cunha, during the seminar, which was also attended by Angola's commissioner-general at the Expo, Albina Assis.
He also pointed to the recovery and creation of new infrastructures, such as electricity, roads, railways, airports and four deep-water ports, which allow products to be transported, as well as a very thorough reform, so that foreign investment can be made safely.
The Secretary of State also informed the foreign investors that Angola has a good climate to produce with abundant rainfall of about 1200/1400 millimetres a year, which allows it to produce all year round without any problems.
However, he encouraged foreign entrepreneurs to invest in agriculture, pointing out that Angola has plenty of water and around 55 million hectares of land with agricultural potential, with only five million being produced, around 10%.
"We have major challenges in terms of the need to increase our productivity," he stressed, acknowledging that the country still has problems in terms of soil production, better quality seeds and skilled labour.
He emphasised that the Angolan government is interested in the production of products such as rice, maize, wheat, beans and sunflowers, and said that investors who are interested can request for a available land in the provinces of Lunda-Norte, Lunda-Sul, Moxico and Cuando Cubano.
João da Cunha noted, however, that although Angola has plenty of water it is not outside the international context of climate change, with some irregularities in rainfall occurring in the country.
He also said that there are great business opportunities for both foreigners and nationals.Another important sector is cattle breeding, where we want to develop the production of cattle, pigs, goats, lots of poultry, eggs and plenty of milk.
Logistical infrastructures, service provision, agricultural mechanisation, the production of fertilisers and pesticides, the provision of tractors and small tools for family farming were also mentioned as pertinent to the process of diversifying the economy of the country.
The event was attended by Qatari businessman Yassin Al-Jabsrti, from Gulf African Commercial Representation, who expressed his intention of travelling to Angola soon to assess the business environment and opportunities.
The Gulf African Commercial Representation (GACR), is a networking line of first business people who are committed to promoting trade and investment between the Consolidated Consultants Group (CCG) and African continent. SR/AC/MRA/DOJ
