Foreign news

Ambassador Talks: Angola’s ambassador to China lauds Beijing’s role in his nation’s post-war recovery, development

Published

4 years ago

December 28, 2020

This year marks the 45th anniversary of Angola’s independence. Our reporter Wang Hui sat down with its ambassador to China, Joao Neto, to talk about his nation’s history, its modernizing economy, and its deep ties with China.

Located in Southwest Africa, Angola borders Congo in the north, Zambia in the east, Namibia in the south, and the Atlantic Ocean lies to its west, with a coastline stretching 1,650 kilometers. For some Angolans, its geography means one thing, opportunity.

JOAO NETO Angolan Ambassador to China “We hope Angola can become a real regional hub, and we can fully use its natural resources and geographic advantage to benefit the entirety of Africa. So, we have devoted more to infrastructure building, especially in terms of our transportation facilities such as building large airports, ports, railway network, and highways. With help from China, we hope we can turn Angola into a genuine regional transportation hub to facilitate regional economic development and the flow of people.”

But it’s not been easy for Angola to reach its goals. It was once a colony of Portugal. After winning its independence in 1975, the civil war soon broke out and continued for 27 years. The war destroyed 90 percent of the country’s infrastructure.

JOAO NETO Angolan Ambassador to China “China has always been Angola’s good friend. China provided a lot of support during the independence war. After the civil war, China has been an important power in terms of supporting Angola. China provided loans, and many Chinese companies have been involved in the post-war reconstruction.”

Since 2002, when the civil war finally ended, Angola has looked to maintain peace and stability by focusing on development. The country has abundant natural resources and its economy is currently being modernised and transformed. But it still faces a number of challenges.

WANG HUI CGTN Reporter “Angola is the second-largest oil producer in Africa. Oil prices have been dropping since 2014. And the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated that trend. What measures are you taking to handle this situation?”

JOAO NETO Angolan Ambassador to China “For a long time, our economy has been over-reliant on oil. It inspires us that we need to develop a strategy to diversify our economy. In fact, besides oil, other resources in Angola are also abundant, including agriculture, water, the climate, arable land, fishing, and mining. We also have a long coastline. We will gradually get rid of our reliance on oil and change its dominant position.”

WANG HUI CGTN Reporter “Angola is also facing the problem of paying back heavy debt. And China is Angola’s biggest creditor.”

JOAO NETO Angolan Ambassador to China “About debt, we’ve maintained close contact with China and also gained China’s understanding. But we know all too well that the most practical and effective way to lessen the debt is to develop the nation’s economy. If our economic model is healthy and reasonable, our demand for loans will be less strong.”

Angola is now the third-largest economy, and one of the largest and most attractive investment environments in sub-Saharan Africa.

JOAO NETO Angolan Ambassador to China “The fundamental strategy of developing the economy is to open the door to attract foreign investments. We need to facilitate economic development, create a healthy market, and try to lessen the government’s interference in the market. The government plans to privatise more than 190 enterprises from 2019-2022.”

WANG HUI CGTN Reporter “Some investors may be concerned about corruption. How would you ease their concerns?”

JOAO NETO Angolan Ambassador to China “Corruption has been a problem for years, which is undeniable. Our president has been taking firm and strong measures to crack down on corruption, which is one of the focuses of his presidency. By far, the crackdown on corruption has gone deep into the judiciary, and we’ve seen some positive results. We want to retrieve public interests, reshape Angolans’ opinions about values, and improve social morals.”

This is a special year for Angola, as it marks the 45th anniversary of the nation’s independence.

WANG HUI CGTN Reporter “How do you see the future development of Angola? What role do you think China can play in that?”

JOAO NETO Angolan Ambassador to China “China has been Angola’s friend for a long time. China is a very important strategic partner for Angola. During the last discussion between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Angolan President Joao Lourenco, President Xi stressed that China will fully support Angola’s development and support Chinese companies to develop the country. Angola needs China, and the abundant natural resources of Angola will also reward China. The two countries’ cooperation complements each other. I believe the two countries’ political and economic relations will become closer.”

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Foreign news

French Envoy Seeks Collaboration With NAN To Boost Seamless Relationship

Published

5 days ago

February 5, 2025

The Gleamer

The new French envoy to Nigeria, Marc Fonbaustier, on Wednesday called for collaboration with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries.

Fonbaustier, who is the French ambassador to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, NAN’s Managing Director, in Abuja.
The ambassador said that his purpose of visiting was to pay tribute to the MD, and to seek collaboration in three areas with a view to promoting stronger, seamless and fruitful partnership between both countries.

He added that Nigeria and its people were hospitable, especially to the foreigners and ambassadors alike.

He added that Nigeria was a country with so much energy, strength, stamina and so many talents.

In Nigeria, with the population of this size, it is inevitable that the elites of the country are very outstanding, “and there may be a Franco/Nigeria moments now”, he jokes.

According to him, France and Nigeria can collaborate more and learn from each other.
“I could feel it particularly during the state visit of President Bola Tinubu which took place in November 2024.

“I was there and I could see the intensity, the strength and the scope of the partnership, and I am here to scale up that partnership in all sectors.

“I am coming here for three reasons, first, to pay a tribute to the NAN MD and his team for the quality of this agency. We can testify that the contents that you publish are very factual, and also very well set up and structured.

“You do fact checking and you really do try to provide the community with quality information. I think, as a French ambassador, I can recognise that as part of a living democracy,” he said.

The French ambassador said the second reason for the visit was to intimate the NAN MD of France’s eagerness to go on partnership with NAN saying he hoped for assurance of a seamless, fluid and easy relationship.

He said that his third reason stemmed from his observation that NAN recently signed some partnership framework agreements with Egypt and China, saying “it may be time to think of balancing this partnership with others”.

“Especially with French, and to talk with Agence France-Presse (AFP) to see if there’s ground for a closer relationship between NAN and AFP.

“Which is also a recognised agency like yours, and I bet you the sky will be the limit to the collaboration, ’’he said.

Responding, the NAN MD informed the envoy that the agency was African’s biggest news content provider on account of its size.

Ali gave the envoy a little details of the agency’s operation and its outreach, saying “as our continent’s biggest news content provider, we have offices nationwide and in selected African countries.

“We have offices in countries such as South Africa, Cote d’ivoire, Addis Ababa, and then we have offices also beyond the shores of Africa. We have in New York and we are the only resident wire service in the United Nations.

“At a time in the past, the agency had 11 foreign offices, including Moscow, and presently, we are trying to re-open some of our shut offices, especially in London.
“We value partnership and understanding that we have with similar news organisation such as Reuters and, incidentally, we have a long standing relationship with AFP which you just raised.
“I know for years we have exchange of news between NAN and AFP but it’s a cooperation that we will like to strengthen and with your greater involvement,’’ he said.

The MD commended the ambassador for reaching out and engaging with some Nigerians communities to douse the tension of the allegation made by the Nigeriens.

He also lauded the envoy’s leadership and visibility to Nigeria and the ECOWAS, “which has helped to douse the perception and misconceptions about France, especially in the Sahel”.
“I think you have helped to reverse some of this perceptions. I thank you for the kind words that you said about the agency and about our management.

“We also see partnership as an important tool in checking the spread of fake news.
“We’ve seen instances where fake news has done great deal of damage, and with the coming of social media it has done even greater damage.

“Our country is facing a lot of challenges, one of which is the increasing insecurity, and the social media has been used by those who do not want to see our country to prosper,” Ali said.
He further said that NAN was a credible news agency that always fact check to correct the wrong narratives by those who are in the business of causing troubles.

He also told the envoy that the agency has its content in the Nigerian indigenous languages, starting with Hausa and it would proceed to Yoruba and Igbo languages later, “then later in future to French.

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