Angola needs US$1 bln to launch ELP – Angola 2050

Angola said it needs to mobilise about US$1 billion to launch the Long-Term Strategy (ELP – Angola 2050).

The intention was announced by minister of Economy and Planning Mário Caetano João on Monday in Luanda.

The minister was speaking to the press on the sidelines of a consultation of International Organisations, Development Agencies and Diplomatic Missions, on ELP – Angola 2050.

He mentioned human capital (education, health and others), infrastructure (production, transport and distribution of electricity) and diversification as priority for the country’s new dimension of economic growth.

Caetano João said the amount will be needed to ensure progress by 2050, and added that such value should be mobilised via foreign direct investment, citizens’ resources and commercial banks.

As for the strategy, the minister said the education should have an impact on the other areas, stating that human capital is crucial for a more participative governance.

In his speech, the official spoke of the need to boost pre-school education, “from zero to five years old. “We have to work on nutrition by allowing proper formation of the cognitive organs and enabling the capacity to absorb the necessary information to occur without interruptions”, he said.

Mário Caetano said that the Government will strengthen the financial products available to the market, micro-credit, PAC, Planagrão, so that it contributes to the natural exodus of those who are in urban areas, towards rural areas, with a focus on agri-business.

He stressed that the objective was to unblock Angola’s economic growth, building a resilient economy that would benefit all citizens, and that it was necessary to invest in infrastructure, as a driving factor for inclusive economic growth, productivity and social development.

The Long-Term Strategy is the basic tool for drafting the National Development Plan (PDN), which presents the country’s long term strategic development options and is worked out based on scenario analysis for national, sector and territorial levels.

The document under discussion predicts that the non-oil Gross Domestic Product (GDP-NP) will grow 3.3 times, from US$84 billion to US$275 billion, by 2050, with an estimated population of 70 million.

The ELP – Angola 2050 also plans that non-oil GDP per capita will rise 1.2 times, from US$3.67 billion to US$4.215 billion, supported by non-oil exports that are expected to grow 13 times more, from US$5 billion to US$64 billion.

GDP, currently at US$122 billion, is expected to reach US$286 billion, which will represent a growth of 2.4 times more and Public Debt will see a reduction of 6 percent, from 66 to 60 percent of GDP.

Estimates show that under Angola 2050, in the next 27 years the life expectancy of Angolans will rise six years, from 62 to 68 years of age.

The mortality rate, between the ages of five, will fall from 56 percent to 19 percent. Unemployment is expected to fall 10 percent from 30 to 20 percent.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)