President of Zambia starts visit to Angola

 Luanda - Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema arrived Tuesday (10) in Luanda for a 72-hour state visit at the invitation of his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço.

At the "4 de Fevereiro" International Airport, the statesman was welcomed by minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António.

The Zambian Statesman's programme includes a visit to the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Memorial, where he will lay a wreath.

Hakainde Hichilema's agenda also foresees a meeting with host president João Lourenço at the Presidential Palace of “Cidade Alta”.

According to the programme released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mirex), the delegations from both countries will meet and sign the legal instruments, as part of the strengthening of bilateral cooperation.

The agenda features Hakainde Hichilema’s speech at the National Assembly, in addition to the visit to Benguela province.

Angola remains a strategic partner in relations with Zambia and the two countries share a long border.

A highlight for relations between Angola and Zambia is the President João Lourenço’s trip to Zambia in May 2018, during which the countries signed five bilateral cooperation agreements, totaling 14 legal instruments in the most various fields.

Among the agreements, the one concerning the exemption of visas in all national passports stands out.

Over 2,000 diamond stones seized in 2022

 Dundo – At least 2028 diamond stones of several carats as well as USD 49,751, were seized in Lunda Norte Province, by the defence and security bodies in 2022, as part of the fight against trafficking and illicit exploitation of the mineral.

According to the balance sheet of the Interior Ministry’s Provincial Office, to which ANGOP has had access, 164 nets, 176 shovels, 50 mine rods, 38 rolls of synthetic rope, three cazabula engines, 14 motor pumps, three buoys, 14 diamond weighing scales, seven diving suits and four sorting lamps were also been seized.

 

The seized material also included eight diamond testing machines, 17 magnifying glasses, 17 calculating machines, one fake dollar testing machine, two diamond colour testing machines, 182 hooks, 41 trap cages, four sieves, among other means used by the alleged traffickers.

 

The note said that the seized diamonds and the resources had been handed over to the Transparency Operation´s Proliferation Commission.

 

The document said that the Ministry of the Interior bodies would continue to strengthen their mechanisms, in order to put an end to clandestine diamond digging in the region, and called on the population to cooperate.

Parliament recommends greater attention to PIIM, fight against poverty

 Luanda - National Assembly (AN) recommended the Executive to continue to pay greater attention to the funds allocated to the social sector, as part of the Integrated Plan of Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM) and the Programme to Combat Hunger and Poverty, taking into account the social well-being.

The recommendation is expressed in the Joint Opinion Report (RPC) of the Execution Balance Report for the Second Quarter of the General State Budget (OGE) -2022, approved by the Specialised Work Commissions of the AN on Tuesday, with amendments.

The Draft Resolutions for the OGE Execution Reports for the 1st and 2nd Quarters of 2022 will be discussed and voted on at the 2nd Extraordinary Plenary Meeting of the National Assembly, scheduled for Thursday (12).

In the OGE Execution Balance report for the 2nd Quarter of the OGE-2022, the MPs recommended  the Executive to pay greater attention to the financial execution of the projects included in the public investment portfolio and programmes of the Bodies of the Administration of Justice.

Under the principle of transparency and good governance, the Parliament wants strict measures to be adopted so that budgetary units comply with the deadlines for rendering accounts, especially diplomatic missions and municipal administrations.

The MPs also recommended continued structural reforms in order to make the national economy robust and resilient to external shocks, as well as the fiscal consolidation process to ensure balance and the rigorous recovery of public finances.

The legislators insisted on the need to stimulate the increase in national oil production through dynamic actions that make it possible to attract investments and increase research activities.

They also recommended the continuation of efforts to contain the growth of public debt, in order to guarantee the sustainability of public finances.

Angolan State issues 1.80 billion kwanzas debt in 2022

 Luanda - The Angolan state issued 1.80 billion kwanzas in domestic debt securities to banks in 2022, according to weekly information on the Angolan economy published Monday in Luanda, by Fomento Angola Bank (BFA).

According to the publication dated 9th January, sent to the bank´s partners, to which ANGOP had access, it is estimated that total issues of securities on the primary market totalled 1.83 billion kwanzas, plus securities issued directly to investors, which totalled 0.02 billion kwanzas accounted until September 2022.

 

With this figure, BFA said that debt is closer to 82% of the forecast in the Annual Debt Plan (PAE).

 

The report also stresses that with oil taxes revenues, which were higher than expected, the Treasury Office issued less than half of what it expected in short term bonds and less than a third in dollar bonds, and took advantage of the opportunity to reduce rates as well as to issue further 32% in bonds with maturity ranging from 2 to 10 years.

 

However, the 2023 emissions will begin in the current month, after approval of the Presidential Decree in order to authorise emissions of up to 2.16 billion kwanzas

 

The mentioned Presidential Decree allows the Treasury Office to start financing this year, before approval of the 2023 State Budget, which will be discussed in the National Assembly this month.

Central Bank establishes new rules for foreign transactions

 

Luanda - Banking institutions must subscribe to the Swift FIN Inform transaction reporting system to ensure that data from international payments and receipts operations carried out are directly reported to the National Reserve Bank of Angola (BNA).

According to the BNA Instruction no. 01/2023, that ANGOP has had access to, it clarifies the need to regulate the rules and procedures for the reporting of statistical information on the bank´s foreign transactions.

 

With this Instruction, BNA also aims to ensure the quality of the system for monitoring and processing foreign exchange operations, as well as guaranteeing the correct definition and execution of foreign exchange policy.

 

Banks will communicate with the National Reserve Bank of Angola, via copies of messages, such as for Client Payments and Cheques (MT103), Financial Institution Transfers (MT202) and Documentary Credits and Guarantees (MT700).

 

BNA Instruction also states that banking financial institutions will now obey new rules of filling in the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

 

To register for the FINInform service, the BNA guarantees that there are no additional costs for financial institutions.

 

With this BNA Instruction, the previous Nr. 11/2022, of 20 September, as well as all the provisions that contradict what is stated in this document, are no longer in force.

 

Meanwhile, the Instruction no. 01/2023, comes into force 180 days after its publication.

How the world cup triggered protests against Covid lockdowns in China

 A SPECIAL DNT REPORT – From the onset of the pandemic, China adopted what it called the zero Covid policy to curb the spread of the virus given its population concentration and being the origin of the virus.

With sections of their cities organized like large gated communities, it was easy for the government to lock down any area where someone tested positive by just shutting the gates to that section.

They would conduct contact tracing and vaccinate as necessary to ensure that the entire area was Covid-free before ending the lockdown. Sometimes it took as long as a couple of months.

Because China’s lockdown was basically pockets in a city rather than nationwide as other countries enforced theirs, lockdowns meant LOCK DOWN in that area.

This unleashed economic hardships that the Chinese had not been accustomed to in recent memory. With as high as 80% of the population working in the private sector where salaries are not guaranteed, bills began to pile up for the working class.

Young Chinese men who had purchased apartments and vehicles on their credit cards because the two are prerequisite to marriage began to feel the pinch.

Pretty soon, while Covid remained the number one killer of Chinese, right behind it were stress-related deaths and suicides in that order with the favorite method being jumping off high rise buildings.

But the Chinese suffered in silence because not only are they a highly patriotic citizenry, they take whatever their government announce to them as ‘gold.’

As pressure mounted on the government to relax its zero Covid policy, the national Congress of the People’s Party was approaching where President Xi Jingping was to be re-elected.

So the government placed a tight lid on any form of protests until after the Congress telling the citizens that Covid is running wild in countries around the world and lockdowns are happening everywhere.

Then the world cup in Qatar came up.

The Chinese love football, but they also love one thing better – betting on football. That means the the games had to be broadcast live to Chinese households so that they can at least enjoy the games as many of them remained locked down.

And that’s where the lie was exposed.

Here were the Chinese enduring lockdown after lockdown and being told that the rest of the world is also on lockdown due to the pandemic.

But here were fans from all over the world congregated in large stadiums in Qatar without masks cheering their teams on and having fun.

Every once in a while the television would show clips of fans enjoying the game not from the stands in Qatar, but from the comforts of their mask-less societies drinking in bars and cheering their teams on.

on the one hand, the Chinese authorities had been successful in convincing their citizens that the unending lockdowns constitute the best way of fighting Covid compared to the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, beamed to their television sets are images refuting the lies and demonstrating that other countries have done a better job of fighting Covid without the stifling lockdowns.

That’s when the dam broke loose. The youth decided that they have suffered enough economic hardship so the lockdowns must end.

Luckily for the authorities, the Congress of the People’s Party had been completed with Xi Jingping securing his re-election before the protests began so the decision to relax lockdowns was an easy one to make.

Now not only has China done away with lockdowns, it has opened her doors to the world again. Ironically, it is now that the world appears to close its doors to Chinese travelers.

Chana, the United Kingdom, and United States are three of many countries instituting Covid restrictions on travelers from China. Morocco has even decided to ban entry to all travelers coming from China outright in a measure that will go into force on Tuesday.

The head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday the agency is “concerned about the risk to life in China” amid the coronavirus’ explosive spread across the country and the lack of outbreak data from the Chinese government.

If you are worried about a revisit of the Covid explosion that began at the beginning of the second quarter of 2020, you should because China’s doors are now fully open. And the world has no accurate data on the magnitude of the outbreak while their doors were closed.

DNT Special Report with Correspondence from Nana Owuraku Amoa-Ampong, Hainan, China

 

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