The European Union (EU) has USD294 million (€275 million) available for Angola, within the framework of the partnership established to support economic diversification, governance and the development of human capital, in the period 2021/2024.
According to the European Union ambassador to Angola, Jeannette Seppen, the topics mentioned are related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as financial inclusion, in the context of supporting the Government’s efforts to formalize the economy.
Jeannette Seppen intervened at the opening of the Forum on “Financial Inclusion for Development”, a joint initiative of the Government of Angola and some partners of the United Nations system.
The amount was made available to Angola through the new Neighborhood, Development Cooperation and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe, in force since 2021.
The aforementioned “Global Europe” instrument provided an amount of around €80 billion for cooperation with third countries outside the European Union in the period 2021-2027.
With this initiative, according to the diplomat, the European Union significantly modernizes the external dimension of its budget to achieve the international commitments and objectives with which it has agreed, in particular, the 2030 Agenda and it is Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In the diplomat’s view, financial inclusion puts people on a path that takes them out of poverty, creates citizens with productive capacity, fosters business opportunities and feeds economic growth.
“But the European Union’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and to financial inclusion does not start today – the European Union is already contributing to boosting financial inclusion, with projects that stimulate the understanding and participation of financial institutions in the cycle of the economy”, she pointed out.
As an example, she points to the Support for Access to Financing project (ENVOLVER), which, in his view, is contributing to capacity building and training for access to credit, aimed at micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, and promoting financial literacy.
The project of the Ministry of Economy and Planning is implemented at INAPEM – the National Institute for Support to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in collaboration with the Portuguese Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation.
The initiative is open to entrepreneurs so they can understand what kind of solutions are offered by the financial sector to the Angolan economy, to create greater ease of technical interaction between lenders and, consequently, promote diversity in services, commercial solutions and exponential expansion of financial inclusion.
The diplomat reiterated her support for finding answers about the high rate of informality in Angola, 75.36% on average and even higher for women and young people between 15 and 24 years old.
