Angolan president attends African Economic Summit

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LUANDA, May 16 (PRENSA LATINA) Angolan President Joao Lourenço left today for Paris, France, to participate next Tuesday in a summit on financing African countries, whose vulnerability tends to increase due to COVID-19.

The meeting, called by French President Emmanuel Macron, will meet in person and via video link, bringing together about thirty heads of state and government and leaders of international organizations.

Lourenço and the first lady, Ana Dias, were expelled at the 4 de Febreiro International Airport, in this capital, by the Vice President of the Republic, Borneto de Sousa, and other members of the executive branch.

According to the Angolan news agency (Angop), the next meeting in the French capital has the support of the African Union to discuss issues related to the debts of the continent’s countries, private investment, infrastructure construction, and economic reforms.

On the sidelines of the event, Angop said, the Angolan leader will hold meetings with South African Presidents, Cyril Ramaphosa, and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa.

According to the International Monetary Fund, sub-Saharan African countries may run a co-financing deficit of $290 billion between now and 2023, under conditions of rapid indebtedness.

From the point of view of NGOs such as Oxfam International, the IMF and World Bank should abandon unfair or regressive financial constraints on their loans and programmes.

From 2006 to 2019, Africa’s debt increased from $100 to $309 billion, and the COVID-19 crisis exacerbated the economic decline and financial capacity of countries to confront historical problems such as hunger and malnutrition, a different international analysis supports.

jha / mjm

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