Agreements signed to stimulate the local economy in Angola

The project “Support for the Local Development Programme” in Angola, financed by the European Unión and managed by FIIAPP with the Social Aid Fund (FAS), seeks to contribute to the fight against poverty by promoting the development of Angolan municipalities, especially by municipalizing public services and developing initiatives to increase business opportunities.

To contribute to broadening the scope of one of the results of the project, promoting the local economy, a series of interconnected activities has been planned, which will culminate in the co-financing of investment projects developed by local economic promoters, using an instrument called Matching Grants.

To identify these investment projects, a diagnostic study of the economic and productive sector of the municipality was made to identify the sectors and products that have the greatest potential for stimulating the economy of the municipality.

In the case of one of the municipalities benefiting from the project, Buco Zau, in the province of Cabinda, two products were identified: coffee and pineapples. After giving priority to the former, a study of the coffee production chain was made and its results presented at a workshop attended by 53 economic promoters.

Of the seven applications received, three projects were approved for the pilot phase of the Matching Grants: one for the production of coffee plants, another for improvements in the harvesting and drying infrastructure of the only local coffee producers’ cooperative and the last for the coffee transformation process. These projects total €232,000, of which €181,000 (78%) will be co-financed by the project through the Social Aid Fund.

The signing of these financing agreements between the local promoters in Buco Zau and FAS was attended by the European Union ambassador to Angola, the governor of the province of Cabinda and representatives of the management of FAS and FIIAPP.