Happy Africa’s Women Day - We are happy to launch our official channel for the Ladies Without Plastic project

 Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Good news, we already created an official channel only for the project " Ladies without Plastic."

We wish you all a happy African Women's Day!

We invite you all to visit our channel. Simply click here: https://ladies-without-plastic.blogspot.com/

Africa’s Women’s Day is annually observed across the continent on 31 July and is a day earmarked to recognize and affirm the role of women’s organizing in achieving the political freedom of Africa and advancing the social and economic status of women on the continent.

Elections2022: First summary of the seventh day of campaign

 Luanda - Unlike the first six days, this Saturday which marks the seventh day of the electoral campaign recorded greater intensity of activities in the country´s 18 provinces, with six of the eight presidential candidates leading their respective political organisations and all parties stepping up their actions to entice votes for the upcoming general elections, set for 24 August this year.

PHA

 

In the morning, the Humanist Party of Angola (PHA) marched through the streets of Menongue City of the south-eastern Cuando Cubango Province, where it presented to the citizens its arguments on why it should be chosen.

 

During the event, Florbela Malaquias, the head of the party´s list, said that apart from humanising people, “the PHA wants to put an end to holes in people´s lives and not only in the roads, as it is the case with the current government, which relegates the suffering of the people to a secondary level”.

 

In Dundo, Lunda Norte Province, the president of the political committee of this political party, Manuel Massanzo, ruled out any possibility of the PHA winning the general elections on 24 August, because it was still in a “process of consolidation”.

 

 

P-NJANGO

 

The Nationalist Party for Justice in Angola (P-NJANGO) on Saturday toured the municipalities of Viana, Cacuaco and Cazenga in Luanda Province to mobilise and sensitise voters, led by the party´s vice-president, Força Maria Tania.

 

In Viana District, the delegation held a march and ended with an awareness campaign. In Cacuaco they transmitted awareness messages in Vidrul and Kifangondo markets, while in Cazenga they knocked on doors in the neighbourhoods of Hoji-ya-Henda and Kalawenda districts.

 

 

UNITA

 

Under the leadership of its president, Adalberto Costa Júnior, UNITA held a rally act in the Municipality of Cazenga, during which it declared itself ready for the contest and to create a democratic government without discrimination.

 

In his speech, the head of UNITA´s list reiterated the commitment to implement local government in Angola, as one of the central issues of the party´s governance programme, which also includes the fight against corruption and the promotion of education, from primary to university level.

 

In northern Uige Province, more than 200 brigades of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) engaged in mobilisation of the citizens to convince them to cast their votes in the largest opposition party.

 

FNLA

 

Six days after its official launch of the campaign, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) effectively opened its election campaign in Bengo Province on Saturday, with a march through the streets of Caxito City led by its secretary general, Aguiar Laurindo.

 

“The FNLA intends to pay special attention to children, youth and women, as well as to build homes throughout the country, it wants to create an unemployment benefit, defend orphans, displaced persons and pensioners, if it wins the general elections on 24 August”, promised the politician.

 

CASA-CE

 

In Uíge province, the Broad Convergence for the Salvation of Angola - Electoral Coalition (CASA-CE) held a mass rally, in which it promised, among other things, to improve policies on access to employment and to create an unemployment benefit, in case of wining the elections on 24 August.

 

“We’ll eliminate the requirement of work experience, age limitation and other constraints for access to employment”, explained the head of the list of this coalition, Manuel Fernandes, during the presentation of his programme.

 

Meanwhile, in Luanda, CASA-CE, during a similar event, proposed the creation of a dialogue pact with the political forces competing for the general elections on 24 August, so that the electoral campaign takes place in a climate of peace and harmony.

 

APN

 

In the capital city of Zaire, the president of the National Patriotic Alliance (APN), Quintino Moreira, promised to rehabilitate the province´s road network, with emphasis on the road linking Mbanza Kongo to the municipality of Cuimba, over a distance of 62 kilometres.

 

 

Quintino Moreira, who was speaking at a rally as part of his party´s electoral campaign, said that priority would be given to secondary and tertiary roads and access to the interior of the province.

 

 

PRS

 

The Social Renewal Party (PRS), which spent the first days of its campaign in eastern side of the country, in Luena City of Moxico Province, held a march that ended with a rally. Its president, Benedito Daniel, met with leaders of youth associations.

 

On the other hand, during its ten-minute airtime in the Angola National Radio Station he said that the preservation of Angolan culture and African identity is part of his party´s programme, if he wins the elections, as he believes that for the construction of a structured society, cultural promotion is an essential factor.

 

MPLA

 

In the province of Bié, the President of MPLA, João Lourenço, highlighted the rehabilitation of roads and public lighting in the province, as well as promised proper intervention in the road linking Bié to Cuanza Sul (Andulo/Mussende), in order to facilitate the connection between both places and between them and other Angolan localities.

 

Speaking at a rally in the city of Cuito, the MPLA candidate for the 2022 elections underlined among other achievements the rehabilitation of the Cunje-Andulo road, which allows easy circulation between both cities, as well as the tertiary and secondary roads of the other municipalities.

 

Meanwhile, in Luanda, the first provincial secretary of the ruling party, Bento Sebastião Bento, urged the supporters, members and friends of the party to flock to the polls on 24 August, to exercise their right to vote, for the MPLA to win the election for the fifth consecutive time, after 1992, 2008, 2012 and 2017.

 

“In the capital and largest electoral ward in the country, the MPLA militants and leaders, besides mobilising the list delegates and the people for the massive vote for the party, should be the first to leave home for the polling stations”, expressed the politician, at the end of a march which lasted for about two hours.

 

In Malanje Province, the MPLA party also held a mass political event in the municipality of Mucari, during which the first provincial secretary of this party, Kwata Kanawa said that the defence of peace and national reconciliation are indispensable requirements to  avoid disagreements among Angolans.

Elections2022: UNITA calls for transparency

 Luanda - The UNITA candidate for President of the Republic, Adalberto Costa Júnior, Saturday in Luanda appealled for the need for the general elections of 24 August to be fair and transparent.

While speaking during a mass event held in Cazenga Municipality of Luanda Province, he stressed that his political party is ready to create a democratic government without discrimination.

 

In his speech, the head of the UNITA list reiterated the commitment to implement the local elections in Angola, if his party wins the 24 August elections.

 

Adalberto Costa Júnior said that this is one of the central issues of the party´s governance programme, which also includes the fight against corruption and the promotion of education, from primary to university level.

 

The event served also for the party to present its candidates for MP and the five-year governance programme, which is focused on inclusive and participatory governance.

 

Among others, The UNITA´s electoral manifesto comprises aspects like state reform, higher quality of education and health, access to housing and employment, promotion of the market economy and eradication of regional asymmetries, and facilitation of low-interest credit.

 

To observe the voting process in the municipality of Cazenga on 24 August, UNITA accredited 1,040 delegates, out of the 2,090 required.

 

According to the provincial secretary of UNITA, Nelito Ekuikui, Luanda will have 17,000 delegates of his party in the upcoming polls.

 

Angola will hold its fifth elections on 24 August, after those in 1992, 2008, 2012 and 2017. It will be the first elections with the participation of Angolans in the diaspora.

ANPG, Totalenergies announce first development of Block 17/06

 Luanda -The National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), the Total Energies and partners of Block 17/06 announced Friday in Luanda the final investment decision for the Begonia Development Area, located in the Lower Congo maritime basin, about 150 kilometers from the Angolan coast, ANGOP has learnt.

Begonia reservoir will be developed through five subsea wells (three for production and two for water injection) connected to the FPSO Pazflor floating production, storage and offloading unit, in production since 2011 in Block 17.

The first oil exploitation expected in the first half of 2025, will increase FPSO Pazflor's production by roughly 30,000 barrels of oil per day.

Begonia is the second project operated by Total Energies in Angola to benefit from innovative engineering and a new contractual framework for the standardisation of the Subsea Production System, capable of reducing costs by up to 20% and accelerating the acquisition process.

Paulino Jerónimo, CEO of the National Agency of Oil, Gas and Biofuels, said Begonia's final investment decision was crucial to sustain Angola's production, optimizing existing assets and resources.

"The National Concessionaire will continue to do everything so that operators and their partners have the best opportunities to expand and increase their activity in our country and to contribute to the increased productivity and efficiency of our oil sector," Jeronimo said.

In turn, the Total Energies' general manager in Angola, Olivier Jouny, said this first subsea development of inter-block connection will maximize the use of Pazflor's infrastructure, reduce costs and carbon intensity, in line with Total Energies' strategy.

"In this block, Total Energies shows its leadership in deepwater, at low cost (less than USD 20 per barrel), thanks to the standardisation of the subsea equipment," Jouny said.

The company’s official added that this final investment decision comes before the expected signing of the concession for the Quilemba solar power plant, in Lubango, showing Total Energies' bet on multi-energy development in Angola.

The development project is worth 850 million, in which 70 percent of the work is to be carried out in Angola, mainly at the Luanda industrial base and offshore.

Total Energies operates Block 17/06 with a 30% stake, together with Sonangol P&P (20%), SSI (27.5%), Somoil (10%), ACREP(5%) Falcon Oil (5%) and PTTEP (2.5%).

FACRA, Quanten envisage contract for Soyo Refinery

 Luanda – A financing contract aimed at facilitating the supply of goods and services to the Soyo Refinery Project is to be signed between the Quanten Consortium Angola, LLC, and the Active Fund of Angolan Risk Capital (FACRA).

According to a press note, this partnership comes after an extraordinary meeting held between senior executives of Quanten Consortium Angola and FACRA which decided for major support of local firms.

 

The parties agreed that when Soyo Refinery approves a contract with an Angolan firm, FACRA takes the responsibility to provide financial support to such undertaking.

 

The note also reveals that the two institutions have agreed to finalise the contract in the coming three months.

 

In this ambit, Segun Thomas, one of the managers of Quanten Consortium Angola, LLC, stresses on the note that the firm is honoured for having the opportunity to help local Angolan companies to overcome one of the main hindrances to entrepreneurial success, that is, access to capital.  

 

On its turn, the co-ordinator of the resctructuring committee of FACRA, Teodoro de Jesus Xavier Poulson, said that “this initiative will enable FACRA to fulfil one of its greatest goals, which is to provide leverage to small and medium enterprises.     

Military support reduces deaths in Mozambique - Ambassador

 Luanda - The Mozambican ambassador to Angola, Osvalda Joana, said in Luanda that the support of the SADC and Rwandan military made it possible to reduce the number of deaths in the country, between 2020 and 2021, by 82 percent.

In a recent interview with ANGOP, on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of Mozambican Independence, the diplomat said that the figures until 2021 showed that there were at least 3,000 dead and 850,000 displaced, but with the operations to support the Mozambican forces, the numbers were reduced by 82 percent.

According to the ambassador, the success of the military operations has to do with the successful measures on terrorism against the group of extremists, carried out by the Mozambican forces, supported by the Rwandan military and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

In another part of the interview, the diplomat spoke about the need to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, in the areas of oil and gas, in which Angola has extensive experience, as well as agriculture and tourism.

"Mozambique and Angola have excellent political and historical relations of friendship, brotherhood, solidarity and cooperation. Cooperation is based on the General Agreement signed between the two countries on 5 September 1978 in Luanda, which stipulates bilateral exchange in the socio-political, economic and technical-scientific areas," she said.

Ukraine War: Russia Says 40 Ukrainian Prisoners Killed In Blast

 Russia’s defence ministry says 40 Ukrainian prisoners-of-war have been killed by Ukrainian shelling of a prison in separatist-held Donetsk.

Officials alleged that 75 others had been injured in a rocket strike on the prison camp in Olenivka. The BBC cannot independently verify this claim.

Ukraine’s military denied carrying out the strike and instead accused Russia of shelling the prison.

It said Moscow was seeking to cover up evidence of torture at the site.

“The Russian occupants pursued their criminal goals, thus, to accuse Ukraine of committing ‘war crimes’, and to hide the torture of prisoners and shootings committed there by the orders of the occupation administration and the command of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” Ukraine’s General Staff said.

“The Russian enemy continues his propaganda methods of waging information warfare in order to accuse the Armed Forces of Ukraine of shelling civilian infrastructure and the population, hiding his own insidious actions.”

Footage broadcast on Russian state TV shows the smoking wreckage of a building, which appears to contain some human remains. The BBC cannot independently verify the footage, but analysis suggests the building was hit with an incendiary device, not regular artillery.

Daniil Bezsonov, a spokesperson for the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, said the strike had been a “direct hit on a barracks holding prisoners” and the number killed might increase.

Russia’s defence ministry said the strike had been carried out with US-made Himars artillery and it accused Ukraine of a “deliberately perpetrated” provocation.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Lt Gen Igor Konashenkov, also said eight prison staff had been wounded.

But Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, said the Russian allegations were “a classic, cynical and elaborate false flag operation” designed to discredit Ukrainian authorities.

“This is a deliberate, cynical, calculated mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners, which requires strict investigation. We demand a reaction from the UN and international organizations,” he added.

It has been established that a number of Ukrainian troops who surrendered to Russian forces after a protracted siege at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol were taken to Olenivka.

The troops had held out against a relentless Russian assault on the sprawling site for weeks and surrendered in May after using the plant’s maze of tunnels to shelter from artillery and air strikes.

…………………………………………………………