Luanda – Angolan president João Lourenço pointed out Thursday the commitment to human capital as one of the main pillars of economic and social development in SADC.
João Lourenço expressed the commitment while delivering his speech during the transfer ceremony of SADC leadership from his Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) counterpart Félix Tshisekedi.
The Angolan president said that the main challenge will be centered on the technical-professional training of young people, with a view to acquiring skills that facilitate access to employment, in the aim of meeting the challenges of the 4th industrial revolution and the digitization of the economies of the region.
According to João Lourenço, it is necessary to invest in the diversification of funding sources for the implementation of projects and programmes at Member State and regional level, with a view to reducing the level of dependence on the always useful and remarkable solidarity of the partners of international cooperation.
“We will pay particular attention to the implementation of the Regional Development Fund (RDF) and other mechanisms to attract existing investments,” he said.
João Lourenço called on Member States to speedup the approval and ratification of the Agreement on the Operational of the SADC Regional Development Fund, a key tool for mobilising critical financial resources to pursue the ambitious development regional industrialisation agenda and hence the achievement of SADC's regional integration agenda.
In addition to investing in human capital, he said, for the industrialisation of our countries and therefore the Southern African region, there is a need to invest in electrification, increase in the production and sharing of energy through the interconnection of transport networks.
"But we also need to extend and interconnect our road and rail networks, guarantee greater maritime and air links between our countries, have greater fluidity in commercial exchanges and the movement of people and goods, have a real regional integration", underlined the Angolan statesman.
Angola, he added, is making great efforts in the recovery and construction of infrastructure such as the Lobito Corridor, which will facilitate the interconnection and movement of people and goods between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, as well as the placement of products for export to international markets on more advantageous terms.
João Lourenço said that serious investments are underway to increase energy production from non-polluting sources and in transmission networks.
"In the field of telecommunications, Angola has invested in a fiber optic cable which already connects us to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, with the prospect of an extension throughout the SADC region and to the East Africa," he admitted.
The Angolan communication satellite (ANGOSAT II), he stressed, is capable of providing services to the countries of our region.
The Angolan Head of State also spoke of the construction of the Lobito oil refinery, which opens the prospect of a greater supply of refined products to the region, through an oil pipeline that will connect it to the neighbouring Republic of Zambia.
At SADC level, João Lourenço highlighted the approval of the deployment of a regional force within the framework of the SADC Standby Force, as a regional response to efforts aimed at restoring peace and security in the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The president expressed the conviction that, with commitment, solidarity and help, Angola will have a presidency with satisfactory results in terms of the objectives and goals defined. VM/CF/NIC
