Luanda - Angolan entrepreneurs will begin to benefit from technical training in small business management within a year, with an emphasis on agricultural and livestock projects, an initiative that is part of cooperation between Angola and Brazil.
This was announced this Thursday in Luanda by the institutional analyst for the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (SEBRAE), Larissa Gontijo, after the meeting between the Angolan secretary of State for the Economy and a Brazilian delegation working in the Angolan capital and in the provinces of Bengo and Benguela, from the 5th to the 13th of this month.
According to the official, the technical training is the result of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the National Institute for Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (INAPEM) and SEBRAE last August in Luanda, as part of the visit to Angola by the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva.
Speaking to the press, the Brazilian technician said that her delegation's presence in Angola served to get to know the Angolan business reality better, with a view to building a joint technical training project with INAPEM to support Angolan entrepreneurs.
Furthermore, with this co-operation, she said that SEBRAE hopes to contribute to its strategy of innovation and implementation of public policies to support small businesses in Angola, a partnership that could be expanded to other sectors.
She said that, from a concrete point of view, the implementation of the technical training project could begin within a year or so, taking into account the legal procedures to be followed.
Larissa Gontijo hoped that SEBRAE would be able to contribute its experience in supporting the management of small businesses in various segments, as it has done over the last 51 years of experience, with an emphasis on projects linked to small-scale farming.
She also considered the meeting with the secretary of State for the Economy to be positive, as it allowed her to learn more about the Angolan government's strategy for the business sector, a fact that forms the basis for the field visit to be made by the 13th of this month.
In turn, the secretary of State for the Economy, Ivan dos Santos, reiterated that the presence of the Brazilian delegation in the country symbolises the beginning of the materialisation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Angolan and Brazilian business classes.
He said that the visit would make it possible to assess INAPEM's strategic and structural model at the level of the country's first three provinces (Luanda, Bengo and Benguela).
With this, he said, it will be possible to have a basis for drawing up a joint work plan.
He pointed to the technical training of entrepreneurs and other professionals as one of the priorities of the co-operation between INAPEM and SEBRAE.
In addition to the meeting with the secretary of State for Economic Affairs, the joint delegation from SEBRAE and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) also held a meeting with INAPEM's Board of Directors.
The Brazilians' agenda includes methodological meetings with INAPEM, visits to provincial services, meetings with relevant players in the business, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, visits to structuring projects supported by INAPEM, among other activities.
QCB/PPA/DAN/jmc
