New York - Angola's permanent representative to the United Nations, Francisco José da Cruz, said Tuesday, in Helsinki, Finland, that the country has the potential to become one of the main players in the field of agribusiness in Africa, due to its soils fertile and rich areas and favorable natural conditions.
According to a note sent to ANGOP, the diplomat made these statements during his speech at the Second UN Forum of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), which took place on March 4th to 6th under the motto “Innovation for structural transformation in LDCs.
On the occasion, the ambassador recalled that Angola was once a major producer and exporter of agricultural products, including coffee, cotton and bananas.
However, he made it known that exports of these products basically ceased in the 90s, as a result of the internal conflict that ended in 2002, which led to the collapse of commercial agricultural production.
“Angola’s agricultural potential has remained unexploited since then, representing an important investment opportunity. Only 10% of the country's 35 million hectares of arable land are currently under cultivation. To become a power on the African continent, the sector is being transformed to meet the needs of its people, concretize economic potential and respond to environmental challenges and concerns”, he highlighted.
To achieve this goal, he said that the Angolan Government is intensifying efforts, such as the National Food and Nutrition Security Strategy (ENSAN 2021-2030) and working with development partners, to implement transformative projects with a leadership role played by the private sector in technological innovation.
He highlighted that the Executive prioritizes the need for economic diversification, having created the Production Support, Export Diversification and Import Substitution Program (PRODESI), which is encouraging research, capacity development, innovation and digital transformation to promote entrepreneurship, mainly in export-guided projects.
The forum aims to support Least Developed Countries in their efforts to implement the Doha Action Plan for LDCs 2022-2031.
It was co-organized by the Office of the United Nations High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.
MCN/CF/jmc
