Dallas – The President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, said on Tuesday in Dallas, Texas, that the great concern of most African countries is related to the challenge of public debt, which has a significant influence in the execution of development programs.
Speaking at the opening of the 16th US-Africa Business Summit, to which he was also invited as first vice-president of the African Union, he argued, therefore, that this debt must deserve the attention of credit institutions, so that it is established some balance between obligations towards the creditor and the imperatives of implementing the development programs of African countries.
On the other hand, the President stated that an important vector of Africa's relationship with the USA is trade, within the scope of which operations with reciprocal advantages have been carried out, and Africa is able, through this route, to secure considerable revenues for the implementation of socio-economic development projects.
He stressed that he has been following with attention and interest the process of renewing the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA), as it is an important mechanism for framing commercial exchanges, which is expected to be increasingly inclusive and flexible, to that can be derived from these tangible reciprocal benefits.
João Lourenço hoped that the results of the work of this summit would be duly used, so that “together we can build a partnership that promotes the economic and social development of the African continent and is, at the same time, beneficial to American credit institutions and private investors”.
The Angolan Head of State is among the African government entities invited to the summit, which will discuss, for four days, solutions to boost commercial cooperation between North Americans and Africans.
The summit is an initiative that aims to discuss effective solutions to boost sustainable commercial partnerships between the USA and the African continent, which is increasingly strategic and a priority in the foreign policy of the North American Administration.
The main objective of the meeting is to enable African leaders to directly contact decision-makers from Governments and the private sector, in order to promote sustainable business partnerships between the US and Africans.
The organization of the summit plans to bring to the table topics of capital importance for strengthening mutually advantageous business partnerships, with particular emphasis on the agribusiness sector.
It is expected that African countries will establish bridges and partnerships to give greater consistency to their development projects, attracting US investors to agricultural fields, one of the main drivers of growth for the continent's economies.
The 16th US-Africa Business Summit will serve to delve deeper into the issue of available financing options, through the US Government and institutional investors, as well as North American and African banks. Elj/ART/DOJ
