Port of Lobito, Angola
Transcript
ANGOP NEWS AGENCY: I have two questions for Administrator Samantha Power. The first is whether there are any plans for large American farmers to invest in Angola? Secondly, when will the U.S. government make dollars available to help boost the Angolan economy? To the Ministers of Transport, we hear a lot on the news about investments from the United States, I was wondering if there is any evidence of these investments?
ADMINISTRATOR SAMANTHA POWER: Thank you all. So, I will take the first question around American farmers and their investment and partnership here. And let me just say that we at USAID have a wonderful program called Farmer to Farmer, which is a means of connecting American farmers and their innovations and techniques – for example, in dealing with increasing drought and very significant water management challenges – partnering those individual farmers with farmers in Africa. And I will take as homework for myself and my team out of this visit, having met some amazing women farmers today who are growing their yields, I will take as homework the question of whether or not we can bring the Farmer to Farmer program to Angola in some fashion so that American farmers can enter into that kind of partnership, including by visiting and sharing those skills.
I think your question, though, was more about large American agro-businesses and their investment here. So let me just say a word about that. Under President Biden, and in partnership with Deputy Secretary [Richard] Verma and Dr. [Tracy] Carson, we at USAID are trying to do much more in the domain of using catalytic financing to convince private sector actors in the United States, in Europe, and also here in Angola and Africa, to take a risk that they may not otherwise be inclined to take.
So, sometimes that involves us funding a feasibility study, to prove to a company that it is actually good for their business to contemplate an investment here. I think we have an incredible story to tell in light of the innovations that the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Agriculture are undertaking in association with the Lobito Corridor. And the fact that President Biden himself talks so often about the importance of the Lobito Corridor, and himself engages so many of the major American companies involved in agriculture, I think, gives us a great opening to attract that kind of investment here. And I think this is a very good example of an investment that can be unlocked because of the modernization of the transportation infrastructure, including the port and the rail.
But it will require us to always keep the people top of mind, to put the people first and view the infrastructure as a means to an end. As a means not only to economic development, but to human development, which is what USAID does all around the world and what we're very privileged to get to do here. And for your second question, I'm going to ask Deputy Secretary Verma to respond.
DEPUTY SECRETARY RICHARD VERMA: I would just say, over, really, more than two decades, we've invested a significant amount in Angola. We will continue to do so. I just think about – health cooperation has been nearly $600 million. We're in all facets of our health cooperation from global health security, to PEPFAR, to combating HIV/AIDS, to combating malaria – and that work will continue. But again, we are diversified in our approach, investing in agriculture, investing in financial inclusion, investing in education, and obviously, investing in infrastructure, which is why we're here today.
And the Development Finance Corporation, of which I serve on the board of, is in the final stages of assessing their fairly significant investment, which, as the Administrator said, will be catalytic and it will attract a significant amount of additional investment after that. So, very proud of the record thus far, and I believe it will get stronger in the months and years ahead with our friends in Congress. There's bipartisan support for what we're doing, and so I'm optimistic about our future together.
MINISTER OF TRANSPORT RICARDO VIEGAS D’ABREU (via translation): In reality, there were two questions. Perhaps to recap this process – last year we had a ceremony here in Lobito to formally hand over the concession to the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) consortium, which was attended by the three presidents of the region, Angola, the DRC, and Zambia. This year, at the beginning of the year, the Lobito Atlantic Railway operation for the Lobito Corridor went ahead. Throughout the day, we had the opportunity to talk to Administrator Samantha Power, Deputy Secretary Richard Verma, who happens to be my friend, about the visibility of the impact of this Lobito Corridor and the investments that have been defined that need to be made. Some of which have already started to be implemented, as well as things that most people probably don't feel yet, which fundamentally have to do with improving the operational and organizational capacity of the company itself, Lobito Atlantic Railway, in the context of operating the Lobito Corridor. So there are parts here that are not yet visible in terms of the impact on society, but from the point of view of the operation we are already beginning to feel this effect, and the investments being made by LAR through its shareholder structure – obviously with U.S. support from the Development Bank of America, DFC – which will finance part of LAR's investment obligations.
We will see a progression of improvements in the operational and organizational conditions of the Lobito Corridor, and we will also begin to feel the impact on people, communities, and companies in a progressive way over the next few years. We are confident that we really do have a project here that can represent a trigger for the diversification of our economy, particularly if we manage to integrate all the other sectors that need to be part of this major project. We are building a logistics platform in Caála, in Huambo province, an investment of $50 million, and we have already received support from the European Union for part of this investment. Other important investments are being carried out along the line in other sectors of the economy, in agribusiness, industry, and commerce. We are seeing here the potential for boosting an economy in the Lobito corridor that goes beyond, as Administrator Power said, that goes beyond the infrastructure itself, but the economy and the impact of the communities around this corridor.
The second question you asked me has to do with a more technical aspect. Is the rail line going to be replaced? No, it's not going to be replaced. That's not the focus of this process. LAR's obligations beyond its operation, management, and maintenance, is to modernize and improve operational efficiency. Therefore, there will be no substitution of the line, but we will seek to improve operational efficiency, seeking to maximize all the potential we have here from the point of view of the infrastructure and its contribution to other sectors of the economy. Thank you very much
TV GIRASSOL (via translation): To Minister Ricardo D'Abreu. I would like to know if Angolan companies will be involved in the Lobito Corridor and in which fields they will be involved and what will be the financing model?
MINISTER D’ABREU (via translation): It's important to emphasize the involvement of national enterprises, small, medium-sized and micro-entrepreneurs. Somehow these benefits are already happening, through programs that we just saw, in the agricultural and rural women's communities. However, there's work being carried out here this week in the municipality of Lobito that has to do with the master plan for the Lobito Corridor. This is an executive program called Diversify More. Among this program, funded by the World Bank with a total amount of $400 million dollars, $150 million will go to support and boost companies along the Lobito Corridor. Now we need to be able to guarantee access to these resources, obviously with high-quality projects that create value both for the promotion of the different sub-sectors and also to improve the quality of life of the population in this region of our country. Thank you.
LUSA NEWS AGENCY: Hello, good afternoon. I had several questions, but I’ll cut some of the questions. I’d like to ask, do you think after the elections, the relation with Angola will be the same if there is another president in the White House, and if this could compromise the development of the Lobito Corridor in terms of slowing down financing.
And I have another question for the Minister Ricardo D’Abreu. (via translation) If you could give some general outlines on how the railway plan is progressing, not only in the Lobito Corridor but nationwide, and the big numbers in terms of investment? Thank you.
TIAGO COSTA (via translation): Good afternoon, my name is Tiago Costa. I have two questions. First, according to the information shared on agriculture, Carrinho will be responsible for buying the products, the question is, is this exclusive? If this is exclusive, do we have any way of controlling prices? Second question, Mr. Minister, congratulations on the train. The train's speed is still limited from what I've heard, because we've people living along the way. The question is, do we have the conditions to relocate these people with dignity so that we can finally have the train at full power? And when the cars are out-of-date, we'll buy them again or we'll start building them here?
SORAIA CAMPOS (via translation): Good afternoon all, I'm very pleased when I hear about the investment USAID has been making in my country. Very glad. But let me introduce myself, I'm Soraia Campos, a journalist with Rádio Despertar. My question is, USAID, the United States, is satisfied with the returns, is it satisfactory? That's my question!
NOVO JORNAL AND VOICE OF AMERICA (via translation): Good afternoon. João Marcos, Novo Jornal and Voice of America. Ms. Administrator, the most recent official report from the United States on barriers to international trade says that Angola abuses a lot of so-called "direct contracts," the way in which the state procures without a public tender, and it also claims that there is a lack of efficiency in the implementation of anti-corruption laws. How far have these factors hindered Angola-U.S. trade? And how does the United States view this internal controversy over simplified contracting without a public tender?
ADMINISTRATOR POWER: I will take a few of those questions oriented toward the United States, Deputy Secretary Verma may wish to to answer as well. Let me first start with the last question about the problem of corruption. We have announced, again, a new partnership building on work we have been doing over the last couple of years to render procurement more open, more transparent, and ultimately more credible and legitimate. Not only here in Angola, but globally.
We are really looking forward to deepening our work with independent media, with civil society, and with Angola's government's own audit institutions. Because while those are internal, those also need to be a sturdy check on processes, so as to ensure that the Angolan people get the best value for money. And so as to ensure, as well, high quality infrastructure, high quality investment, protection of the environment, protection of labor rights.
But here, I come back to the Ambassador's emphasis, not only on prosperity and security, but on good governance. And this is where our work in all three of those domains must proceed in parallel. Governance, security, and prosperity are like three legs on a stool, and if one of the legs is too short, the stool is very unstable and even can fall over. And that is why the United States has this all hands on deck approach, making heightened commitments and strengthening partnership in all three domains.
Angola has made very significant progress on the anti-corruption index in the last several years, but of course started from a place from which in order to attract private investment, there needs, and needed to be, significant improvement. So we are looking forward to building on the strides that have been taken to support those, again, who recognize the importance of checks and balances, and understand that Angola cannot reach its full economic potential unless investors can have confidence that they can operate here in a transparent way where the rule of law is supreme.
Second, I will address the question about the election, and say the United States has enduring values and enduring interests that are reflected in this deepened partnership. And when I say enduring, I believe they are going to endure, not only over the next election cycle, but over many, many generations to come. And luckily, I have some evidence that this is true because when you look at, for example, the work that USAID has done combating malaria here, we have done that work nonstop since 2006 – investing more than $400 million.
It is absolutely the case that President Biden is animated about the direction that this partnership is going. It is also the case that in the previous administration, USAID was able to significantly strengthen its private sector partnerships, and the Development Finance Corporation, which is a major player here, was able to begin its work around the world in higher risk developmental settings. And the progress that the Biden Administration has achieved will undoubtedly continue. So I come back to enduring values, enduring interests.
And the last piece of evidence I would offer is, actually, the very significant, much delayed, but nonetheless very significant, supplemental package that includes in it very significant support. $9 billion in additional support for humanitarian assistance around the world, some of which we look forward to deploying here to address food insecurity if that is something that is required, there's more drought happening in more places, things are getting more and more challenging for communities. That additional $9 billion, you hear about Ukraine, you hear about humanitarian assistance and security assistance for Israel, but that $9 billion is a global commitment. And the supplemental, in the end, passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, reflecting again, our enduring interests and our enduring values.
Lastly, on the question of “Am I happy?” I'm very happy. I have learned a tremendous amount over the last several days here in my first trip to Angola about what we have achieved over many decades. As Deputy Secretary Verma said, in the health sector, with these catalytic investments, in the Ministry of Transportation, with women farmers, helping connect people in more rural communities with mobile money through a partnership now with Africell, just over the last year.
So I'm very encouraged, actually, by the results that we have already achieved together. But there's no question that we have tremendous room to grow. So I am happy, but I am also very motivated, as I know, the rest of the U.S. government team is to strengthen this partnership and to scale programs that have already had significant impact where they have reached people, but now can be taken to other communities, to other provinces, and particularly can take advantage of the foundational investments being made in the transportation sector that can unlock much greater prosperity. Thank you.
MINISTER D’ABREU (via translation): Thank you very much. I think we've been asked three questions. The first is about rail projects related to the transport and logistics sector. Perhaps I should also reiterate here that our master plan has been approved for the transport and road infrastructure sector. It's a document that in reality projects Angola's transport and logistics sector for the next 20 years. In this document we have the ambition to extend our national logistics corridors, the Northern Corridor, which starts in Luanda and ends in Malange, the Central Corridor, that is the Lobito Corridor, and the Southern Corridor, that is the Moçâmedes Corridor, which we are now working on to ensure that any of the three corridors can be extended to neighboring countries, making Angola an important partner in facilitating trade, commercial exchanges, and economic development.
Another major obstacle to economic development is precisely this logistical inefficiency, which in fact makes life more expensive for people who don't have the means to buy many of the products and obviously guarantee their quality of life. Therefore, one of the major objectives we have in our master plan is this, the major challenge ahead and obviously how to finance these projects. And here we must once again thank Administrator Samantha Power for the partnership that has been extended to the Ministry of Transport in financing the processes to replicate what happened in the Lobito corridor. We need the private sector to be involved. There is the point of view of the sustainability of public finances, the limits of public debt, so we need the private sector to be involved with us, committed, and believing that we are in fact capable of turning things around and transforming Angola into a prosperous country.
In order to achieve this, there are a number of other conditions that have also been mentioned here, such as good governance, transparency of processes, methodologies to be able to attract the private sector, and these are essential for us to be able to have the private sector committed to us. We are going to launch the tender for the southern corridor, the Moçâmedes corridor, later this year, which will define a set of obligations for the future concessionaire in terms of investment in this corridor. And in the Northern Corridor, we are also currently working with a team of American railwaymen so that we can also promote the development of this corridor in good time, which goes to the provinces of Zaire, East, Lundas North and South. We also have another railway project that we started recently, which is the interconnection of the three lines, the Central Corridor that leaves Malange, connects Cuito and goes all the way to Menongue. We've started the processes, studies, and then we'll be able to decide how to finance this project.
Two more questions were asked, one about the Carrinho Group, and I'm sorry that my colleague from agriculture isn't here to talk enthusiastically about the good example that the Carrinho Group is setting in its involvement in the agricultural sector. It is a project that is being managed by the group in a restricted region, but there are many more projects along the Lobito Corridor. For example we are developing with Dutch cooperation and the Dutch and Angolan private sector the Caála logistics platform involving 26 farmers to promote the export of six specific fruits, this has nothing to do with the Carrinho group.
The government also has the ambition to start producing grain in the Moxico and Bié regions. The AGRAO project, which has nothing to do with the Carrinho Group either, so there are no exclusivity issues, the important message, and I think this is what we need to get across, is that our private sector needs to wake up to the moment of interest around this process. Luckily, we have financial resources, there are institutional, bilateral, and multilateral partners interested in supporting this process, now we need to present solutions and proposals with quality so that we can access these resources and promote investment. Investments are open to the private sector, and the private sector has to start doing its part.
With regard to the problems that we have experienced in terms of accidents, whether from people on the lines, or the unauthorized occupation of people on the railways, this is work that is being carried out across the three lines, with very important awareness-raising issues for the population, and we have other issues related to fraud, sabotage, theft and crime, which also need to be addressed by the authorities. Above all, we believe that the whole process of revitalization and the potential for generating wealth and contributing to the communities along the railway lines can lead to the understanding that it is much more useful to have the line free than to occupy it and risk losing your life. There's a lot of work that has to be done here, we often find complex situations, here the Lobito Corridor won't be the place with the most complex situation. Luanda is clearly the big challenge we have, particularly in the area closest to the population center, there's a lot of interference there, but there's a lot of work to be done here in terms of awareness, education and discipline, simply because it's not possible to jeopardize the safety standards of these infrastructures because it's fun to stand on the line waiting for the train when there are stations. Thank you very much.
Administrator Power Travels to Angola
