The Angolan President, Joao Lourenço, delivered his first speech before the National Assembly since his re-election and admitted to devoting all his strength and attention to the search for the best conditions for the population.
The speech comes just weeks after he was re-elected to his second term.
“I will devote all my strength and attention to finding the best conditions for the people. The main problems of the country, as we all know, in the last five years, our country has experienced enormous turmoil, including two crises that have created difficulties in the lives of all families, companies and state institutions,” said President Joao Lourenço .
Angola, one of Africa’s largest oil producers, is also grappling with increased public debt.
Higher oil prices in 2022 have helped Angola reduce public debt to 56.5% of gross domestic product in 2022, down from 79.7% in 2021 and 123.8% in 2020.
“The country’s debt finance indicators show that this year we will also have a positive balance with the economic reforms we have carried out, which was also possible in the path of the increase in public debt,” said President Joao Lourenço.
The return of the ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), formerly a Marxist, has faced opposition. For some, the country needs to address pressing issues such as educational reforms and other infrastructure.
“It is a very important speech, long, compact and full of perspectives that the country needs. The social space, education, health, road and maritime infrastructure, and all of that was compiled by the president,” said Don Afonso Nunes, pastor of the Church of Toicoiste.
The formerly Marxist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) won a razor-thin majority of 51.17 percent of the vote, giving President Joao Lourenco, the 68-year-old former general, his second term in office.
