Warning on Tax Administration public tender

 Luanda - Angola General Tax Administration (AGT) has warned the public interested in competing for the public tender for 360 vacancies available to be alert, stating that only the National Administration for Public Policy (ENAPP) is responsible for the process and deter the possible fraudsters from carrying on.

The alert was launched at the press conference held Monday on the public tender, during which the AGT appeals to the population to rely only on official channels for information about the tender.

The concern emerged after misinformation around the process circulated  on social media, after the released by the Ministry of Finance of an Order no. 10 of January, 2023, which determines the launch of the public tender by the AGT.   

As soon as conditions are created, the date for applications to be submitted will be published in the country’s daily public newspaper, the AGT Human Resources director, Marlene Martins, has said.

 "The opening of the public tender will be duly announced by ENAPP, via the Jornal de Angola. As soon as conditions have been created, the population will soon have the information about the commencement of submitting the applications," Martins said.

In the Dispatch no.10, of 10 January, 2023, the Finance Minister, Vera Daves, announced the launch of the said tender to fill the 360 available vacancies.

 Vacancies are available for the provinces of Bié (7), Namibe (10), Huíla (10), Cunene (36), Cuando Cubango (34), Lunda Norte (22), Lunda-Sul (21), Moxico (27) and Luanda-headquarters (20).

 An overall 310 vacancies must be filled by technicians in navigation and customs control, customs supervision, litigation (customs and excise), customs inspection, taxation and accounting.

 Another 40 vacancies will be filled by scanners, x-ray and CCTV operation technicians.

 A further 10 posts are available for computer technicians, with skills in systems administration, database and infrastructure system development.

 The process ends on June 5, after the completion of several phases.

Inflation reaches 1.19 pct in December

 Luanda – The overall inflation recorded in December 2022 stood at 1.19 percent, with imported products recording 0.71 percentage points, or 60 percent, a slowdown of 1.08 percent compared with December 2021.

According to the Wholesale Price Index (IPG) report, published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) for December 2022, domestic products contributed to 0.48 percentage points (40%) of the overall inflation figure.

Inflation for domestic products in December 2022 was 1.90%, with the manufacturing industry contributing to 1.11 percentage points to price changes.

The report adds that the accumulated variation of domestic products recorded 28.28% in December.

The list of products that influenced prices included soda (0.57 p.p.), beer (0.26 p.p.), wheat flour (0.04 p.p.), beef (0.02 p.p.), cement, milk powder and frozen horse mackerel (0.01 p.p.) each.

 The Inflation of the imported goods in December was 0.95%.

The manufacturing industry contributed to 0.88 percentage points to the price variation in this category.

 Contributing to inflation were imported products like wheat flour (0.11 pp), pork (0.09 pp), frozen chicken (0.07 pp), soda and cane sugar (0.05 pp), white rice (0.04 pp), beer, wine and soya oil (0.03 pp), beef and cornmeal (0.02 pp), pasta, margarine whisky, sausage (0.01 pp), among others.

2023 Draft State Budget passed in generality

 Luanda - National Assembly (AN) on Monday approved in general terms the State Budget Proposal (OGE) for the 2023 economic year.

Last Friday the Angolan minister of Finance, Vera Daves, presented the document during a Parliamentary session in Luanda.

The Budget was approved at the 3rd Extraordinary Plenary Meeting of National Assembly with 117 votes in favour (MPLA and PHA), 80 against (UNITA) and four abstentions (FNLA-PRS).

With expenditure and revenues estimated at AKz 20.1 billion, the Draft Budget sets the social sector as priority, with 23.9 percent.

It estimates a reference price of 75 dollars per barrel of oil and an average oil production of 1.18 million barrels. 

The document is expected to be discussed in specialised commissions after which it will receive the final approval. 

Parliament speaker expects State Budget responds to families' concerns

 Luanda - National Assembly Speaker Carolina Cerqueira on Monday said she hopes that the 2023 State Budget (OGE) will be drafted with the contribution of political parties and gradually addresses the concerns of families and companies.

Carolina Cerqueira was speaking at the end of the 3rd Extraordinary Plenary Meeting of the National Assembly (AN), which approved, in general terms, the 2023 draft State Budget.

"It should be a budget prepared with the contributions that the various parties presented during the various sessions that we held", the Parliament Speaker said.

According to the Speaker, citizens hope that their representatives can achieve a responsible document, with the possible consensus and that it gradually responds to their families and companies’ concerns.

The Speaker stressed that the State Budget is expected to be improved through discussion in the specialty with everyone's contributions.

She added that the various representatives are expected to remain committed to dialogue and compromise to a budget that responds to the current moment the country faces.

With expenditure and revenues estimated at AKz 20.1 billion, the Draft Budget sets the social sector as priority, with 23.9 percent.

It estimates a reference price of 75 dollars per barrel of oil and an average oil production of 1.18 million barrels.

The document is expected to be discussed in specialised commissions after which it will receive the final approval.

Seven dead in US South after severe rain, tornadoes

 Strong winds and heavy rain damage homes, tens of thousands go without power in parts of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.

At least seven people have been killed in Alabama and Georgia after a massive storm system whipping up severe winds and spawning tornadoes hit some southern states in the United States.

Authorities said a clearer picture of the extent of the damage and a search for additional victims would be possible on Friday, when clear conditions were expected.

The strong winds and heavy rain damaged homes and left tens of thousands of customers without power in parts of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said she was “sad” to learn that six people were killed in the state due to the storms.

The deaths took place in Autauga County, deputy director of emergency services Gary Weaver told AFP news agency.

A tornado touched down in Dallas County as well, ripping roofs off buildings and causing “significant damage”, according to Selma Mayor James Perkins, who called on residents to stay off roads and keep away from downed power lines.

About 40,000 customers were without power in Alabama on Thursday night, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

In Selma, an estimated 40 homes were damaged or destroyed by a tornado that cut a 32km (20 miles) path across two rural communities, Ernie Baggett, the county’s emergency management director, said.

At least 12 people were taken to hospitals by emergency responders, Baggett told The Associated Press news agency. He said crews were focused on Thursday night on cutting through downed trees to look for people who may need help.

“This is the worst that I’ve seen here in this county,” Baggett said of the damage.

The American flag lies in the shrubs in front of the storm-damaged Selma Country Club after a tornado ripped through Selma, Alabama [Mickey Welsh/USA Today Network via Reuters]

In Georgia, a passenger died when a tree fell on a vehicle in Jackson, Butts County Coroner Lacey Prue said. In the same county southeast of Atlanta, the storm appeared to have knocked a freight train off its tracks, officials said.

Officials in Griffin, south of Atlanta, told local news outlets that multiple people had been trapped inside an apartment complex after trees fell on it.

School systems in at least six Georgia counties cancelled classes on Friday.

Six people were killed in Autauga County in Alabama [Butch Dill/AP Photo]

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Boeing 737 Max 8 takes off in China for the first time since 2019

 A Boeing 737 Max 8 took off in China on Friday, for the first time since the government grounded all 737 Max 8 planes in 2019, according to the flight tracking website, Flightradar24.

In March 2019, Chinese aviation authorities instructed airlines in the country to ground all their Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, citing the need for “strict control of safety risks.” The decision followed two 737 Max 8 crashes in Ethiopia in 2019 and Indonesia in 2018.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 that took off Friday is operated by China Southern Airlines and traveled from Guangzhou to Zhengzhou, according to Flightradar24. The flight comes as the Chinese travel market is recovering after the country abandoned zero-Covid policies.

In September, Boeing and its former CEO Dennis Muilenburg agreed to pay hefty fines to settle charges from the US Securities and Exchange Commission alleging they misled the public about the safety of the 737 Max following the two fatal crashes.

The SEC had alleged that, following an October 2018 crash of a Lion Air 737 Max jet that killed 189 people, Boeing and Muilenburg knew that part of the plane’s flight control system posed an ongoing safety concern yet told the public that the 737 Max was safe to fly.

After a March 10, 2019 fatal 737 Max crash, the SEC alleged that Boeing and Muilenburg knowingly misled the public about “slips” and “gaps” in the certification process of that flight control system.

By Pierre Meilhan, CNN

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Malawi Police Arrest Two For Banknote Cake

 Malawi police have arrested two women in their mid-20s after they used kwacha bank notes as decorations for a cake they had baked and posted it on social media.

A police spokesman said the pair had posted the image of the cake festooned with 70 500-kwacha notes – worth $35 (£28) on social media as they advertised their cake-making business.

The accused have not commented on their arrest but police say they will be charged with an offence of “damaging and unlawful use of currency”.

In the past, Malawi’s central bank has said it incurs huge costs printing new bank notes to replace worn out ones and blamed improper use of banknotes as one of reasons the notes have to be regularly replaced.

The offence of “damaging and unlawful use of currency” carries a large maximum fine.

Source: BBC

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