The President of the Republic João Lourenço Tuesday in Malanje declared that Angola aims to be an agricultural power on the African continent.
The Head of State expressed this wish, in statements to the press, after inaugurating the new building of the Higher Institute of Agri-food Technology, a structure to promote research and food processing.
The creation of this public university teaching infrastructure is the result of a cooperation project between the governments of Angola and France.
France has expressed its willingness to help develop agriculture in Angola and to pass on its experience in the training of staff in the agri-food technology segment.
The Head of State said that France was an agricultural power in the world, particularly in Europe.
João Lourenço believes that if Angola takes advantage of this cooperation with France, it is very likely that it will become an agricultural power on the African continent.
Also read: Angola: President unveils Agri-Food Institute
“This is a dream that is achievable, we have objective conditions to achieve this dream. We have good land, plenty of water, what we need is to train people,” he said.
According to the President, what we are going to do in the institution that he has inaugurated is precisely to train people, in the framework of cooperation with the French Republic.
The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, had scheduled a working visit to Angola this year to take part of the inauguration ceremony of the Agri-Food Institute in Malanje, which was made impossible by Covid-19.
At the ceremony, the French statesman was represented by the French ambassador to Angola, Sylvain Itté.
President João Lourenço indicated that the country would bet on agri-food technology and other areas in which France is strong, so that Angola could benefit more.
Angola and France signed, in May 2018, in Paris, four cooperation agreements, as part of President João Lourenço’s official visit, at the invitation of his counterpart, Emanuel Macron.
A Defence agreement, a convention with the French Development Agency (AFD) in the area of agriculture and another on the subsidy of studies were signed.
Source: Angop
