Luanda – The Angolan government has begun a review of the Strategic Food Reserve (REA), with the aim of creating a new model that will increase national production and the country's exploitation capacity, revealed the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, Wednesday in Luanda.
The government official was speaking at the first 2024 edition of 'CaféCipra' session under the motto “Private investment impact in the productive sector”, promoted by the President of the Republic Press Office (CIPRA).
The minister said that the main idea is to turn the REA into an incentive mechanism for national producers, who will sell their products to the reserve.
José de Lima Massano clarified that the new model will enable the private sector to provide available products to the reserve which will have the capacity to monitor the market of goods by controlling the existing quantities, adding that in the event of a shortage, the reserve is activated.
"The REA will not be able to import products that the country does not yet produce on a large scale, and this task will be assigned to the private sector or importers," he said.
He said that operators who want to be part of the REA will have to take part in a public tender and demonstrate the production capacity to supply the national market.
Still on the same subject, the minister for Industry and Trade, Rui Miguêns de Oliveira, said that the new reserve model would be based mainly on national production, with an emphasis on the agricultural and industrial sectors.
"The financing model will be done in a way that does not generate unforeseen liabilities for the public accounts, in other words, we will use the instruments that the state already has, which are operational, to manage the REA," he said.
At the time, the minister of Agriculture and Forestry, António Francisco de Assis, emphasised that the country's current levels of agricultural production are encouraging Angolans to continue to invest in this sector, with a view to guaranteeing Angola's food security.
The Strategic Food Reserve, a mechanism created by Presidential Decree 102/18 and regulated by Decree 209/18, aims to stabilise prices and guarantee the supply of basic basket goods at rational and fair prices on the domestic market.
The first 2024 edition of 'CaféCipra', led by the Minister of State for Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, was also attended by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Angola's Private Investment and Export Promotion Agency (AIPEX), Lello Francisco, as well as producers, entrepreneurs, academics, specialists from various fields, members of civil society, among others, who interacted with the members of the government.
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