MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013

MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
25 may:
Africa Day
F
ounded in 2002 to replace
the OAU, the African Union
is based on the model of the
European Union, though
its current activity is closer to the
Community of Nations. It helps to
promote democracy, human rights
and development in Africa, especially
through the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development programme. >>
Dra. NkosazanaDlamini Zuma,
President of the
African Union
WEZA 07 - May/Jun 2013
Director:
Embaixador Miguel Neto
Editor & Proofreading:
António Nascimento
Photography:
Quim Mbaya
Translation:
Marga Holness
Graphic Design:
Kassim Design
Copies:
2000 exemplares
Printer:
Capital Printers
Graphic Execution:
Press Office of the Embassy
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.angola.org.uk
Address:
22 Dorset Street
London
W1U 6QY
United Kingdom
Tel: 020-72999850
Fax: 020-79354960
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Africa Day, 25 May, was celebrated for the fiftieth time this year.
It was instituted by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963.
The OAU was replaced by the African Union (AU) in July 2002.
Goals of the
African Union
The African Union seeks to ensure
African unity and solidarity. It
upholds the elimination of colonialism, the sovereignty of African states
and economic integration, as well as
political and cultural cooperation in
the continent.
Members
The African Union has the following
fifty-four members, covering almost
the whole continent:
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana,
Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon,
Cape Verde, Central African Republic,
Chad, Comoros, Congo Brazzaville,
Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic
of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial
Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon,
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea
Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and
Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra
Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South
Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania,
Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western
Sahara, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Central African Republic,
Guinea Bissau and Madagascar did
not attend the 21st AU summit held
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 25 to
27 May, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the pan-African organisation.
The three countries had been suspended owing to unconstitutional
government changes. Madagascar
was suspended in March 2009
after the ousting of President Marc
Ravalomanana, while Guinea Bissau
and the Central African Republic were
suspended in 2012 and 2013, respectively, following a military coup d’état
and an armed rebellion.
The current chairperson of the
African Union is Dra Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa•
Kwame Nkrumah
1965-1966
Amary Essy
2002-2003
Alpha Oumar konare
2003-2008
Jean-Ping
2008-2012
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
aFRICA:
CELEBRATED
50 YEARS OF THE
FOUNDATION
OF THE OAU
The African Union seeks to ensure African unity and solidarity. It upholds the
elimination of colonialism, the sovereignty of African states and economic integration,
as well as political and cultural cooperation in the continent.
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Angola signs declaration on
Organisation of African Unity
A
ngola’s Vice-President, Manuel Vicente, representing President José Eduardo dos Santos,
signed a declaration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
on the 50th anniversary of the Founding of the
Organisation of African Unity, the predecessor of the
African Union.
The 37-point declaration, signed by 50 Heads of State
and Government or their representatives, reaffirms the
commitment of African leaders to continue their efforts
to achieve the total eradication of racial discrimination
and colonialism in all their forms.
The African leaders decided to revive the pan-African
congresses and adapt them to the African Union system
and renewed their commitment to see Africa free from
conflicts.
They reaffirmed their determination to resolve the
scourge of conflicts and violence in the continent once
and for all and their readiness to promote the maintenance
and strengthening of peace, promoting important factors
of change like good governance, peace, security, science,
technology and innovation•
Eng. Manuel Vicente, Vice-President of the
Republic of Angola
Heads of States and Government during the 21st Summit held in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Angola’s economic
potential
Angola has a high and diversified economic potential,
which has warranted the special attention of the national
and foreign business community.
Angola is one of the
largest producers of
oil in Africa
MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
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Centrality of “Kilamba”
one of the largest
housing projects of
Luanda, Angola
I
t has large reserves of oil, natural gas and diamonds, as
well as other valuable mineral
resources. The Angolan maritime coast extends for 1650 kilometres and its coastal waters contain
abundant species of fish and other
seafood.
The country has immense areas
of fertile land (an estimated 3.5 million hectares) and its climate is suitable for a great variety of tropical and
semitropical crops. Its many water
courses offer excellent irrigation possibilities and represent a substantial
hydroelectric potential, extending to
the Southern African (SADC) electric
power grid.
Gifted by nature, Angola also has
forest resources and eco-environmental scenarios and landscapes favourable for tourism.
All these arguments are sufficiently
attractive to arouse the interest of
those willing to contribute to its sustained development.
Agriculture, livestock
production and forestry
The most fertile land for agriculture lies alongside rivers. There are
extensive areas of grazing land in the
southeast. Enormous tropical forests
are to be found in the North, East
and South of the country, with some
rare species like ebony, sandalwood
and rosewood, as well as plantations
of eucalyptus and pines (Benguela,
Huambo and Huíla).
The country’s agricultural potential
was proved in the colonial past by the
crops of sugar, cotton, rubber, coffee,
maize, sisal, groundnuts, sweet potatoes, potatoes, beans, cassava, millet,
vegetables, fruit and so forth.
There are an estimated more than
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three million
head of cattle
in the country,
mostly raised by traditional herders (especially in Huíla and Cunene
provinces), followed in importance
of cattle, goats, sheep and swine.
Fish and derivatives
Angola was the leading world producer of fish meal until 1972, but all
the plants specialised in producing
it have stopped operating. There are
three types of fishing in the country: industrial, semi-industrial and
artisanal.
Owing to the abundance of water
resources, there is fishing almost
everywhere in the country, an activity
complementary to agriculture.
The main fishing areas are concentrated in the South, in Kwanza
Sul, Benguela and Namibe provinces.
Catches in the North (Cabinda, Zaire,
Bengo and Luanda provinces) fall far
short of the potential of the maritime
coast and do not meet the demand
of local markets and neighbouring
countries.
MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Angola boasts
of the most
important reserves
of oil, natural gas
and diamonds in Africa
Negotiations with the European
Union on granting fishing rights were
recently interrupted and steps are
being taken to promote national fishing companies, including partnerships with foreign operators.
Processing
industry
Industry was severely
affected by the years of
war. There is almost
no industrial activity in
the country and where
it does exist it is mainly
small-scale industry. Most
of the goods produced are
for national consumption.
Industrial production is
concentrated in foodstuffs, beverages and ordinary metals. The areas
showing the most dynamic growth
tendencies are foodstuffs and bev-
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Angola has about 3
million heads of
cattle goats, sheep
and swine
erages, non-metallic
minerals, cement, tobacco and textiles. Production of ordinary metals
has fallen.
The development of industry is
very dependent on factors such
as the existence and development of infrastructure,
particularly electric power
and road rail and river
transport.
Power and
water
Angola has a growing
hydroelectric power
production capacity,
which may increase
with the use of oil gas,
the production of derivatives and thermal energy.
In order to rehabilitate,
increase and improve the pattern of Angolanisation of installed
capacity, the government decided to
open aspects of power production
and distribution to the private sector.
The building of the Capanda Dam in
partnership with Brazilian and Russian
operators reflects that new policy.
The dam is part of a system of nine
dams, including Cambambe, creating
surplus power that could be exported
to Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and
even other SADC countries, enabling
Angola to become the hub of electric
power in Southern Africa.
Despite the country’s great potential, there are still great shortcomings
in the distribution of electric power in
suburban areas and industrial centres,
because a large part of electrical infrastructure was destroyed or abandoned
during the war.
In rural areas most of the population still does not have access to electricity or commercial fuel.
Transport
The government established a
national transport strategy for the
period 2000-2015, which includes,
among other things, building an integrated transport network and integrating it in the SADC network, and
also introducing public-private partnerships or privatisations, to ensure
private sector involvement in state
infrastructure programmes.
The aim is to re-launch and modernise the transport system in Angola
through new infrastructure (includ-
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Angolan Government
relaunches and
modernizes transport
system in Angola
ing terminals
and dry docks),
operations, regulations and institutions, so as
that it boosts the expansion of economic activity and ensures sustained
development throughout the country
as part of national reconstruction.
Posts and
telecommunications
The Angolan postal service has been a
member of the Universal Postal Union
since 1977. It attended the congresses
held in Rio de Janeiro, Hamburg,
Seoul and Beijing and has won many
international philatelic awards.
Over the past decades, the telecommunications services have been
expanded and modernised, through
the introduction of the digital system
in urban and outlying areas of Luanda
and mobile telephones. Investments
were also made in modernising the
telephone networks in many provinces, extending the digital network
and providing more lines.
The hotel industry and
tourism
Angola, like other African countries,
has excellent wildlife and landscape
resources for tourism, although it has
not yet been able to development this
enormous potential.
The opportunities in this respect
can be divided into two main areas.
The first is urban tourism, mainly the
hotel industry catering for business
tourism, congresses, international
meetings, beaches and boating.
The other area is provincial and
rural tourism, involving nature, adventure and cultural features. At this level,
the country has six national parks (in
the North, Centre, East and South) and
special reserves (in the north, centre
and south), with some species unique
to Angola, like the giant black antelope
(fauna) in the north, and Welwitshia
mirabilis (flora) in the south, as well
as rare birds.
The policy promoted by the government in this respect has been to build
facilities in urban areas to establish and
promote national tourist routes that
help rural development and create jobs
and tourist service micro-companies•
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Angola and S
Botswana
end visas
ince March this year, Angolans
have been able to go to the
Republic of Botswana without
needing entry visas.
Angola is one of a number of countries that no longer need visas for
Botswana, owing to an amendment to
the country’s immigration law recently
published in its official gazette.
Other countries on the list, apart
from Angola, are Bahrain, Brazil,
Cuba, Kuwait, Oman, Portugal, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Turkey
and the United Arab Emirates, as well
as all Commonwealth countries except
for Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nigeria,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and another
forty-three countries.
According to the Angolan authorities, the Botswanan government’s
decision is a positive step in bilateral
relations aimed at strengthening cooperation and ties of friendship between
our two countries and peoples.
Angola and Botswana, two SADC
member countries, have had diplomatic relations since the earliest days
of independence and the establishment of the Angolan state.
They have signed a general agreement on cooperation the implementation of which is being monitored by
a joint commission, other agreements
including the ending of visas and double taxation•
Georges Chicoti, Angolan Minister
of External Relations
According to the
Angolan authorities,
the Botswanan
government’s
decision is a positive
step in bilateral
relations aimed
at strengthening
cooperation and ties
of friendship between
our two countries and
peoples.
Ian Khama, Botswana Republic
President
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
International Children’s Day
I
nternational Children’s Day
on 1 June is celebrated in
Angola. Numerous events
and activities for children
are organised.
The date is celebrated in many
countries in the world, although differently from country to country. Special
attention is paid to children on that
day, giving them presents and organising recreational activities.
The United Nations adopted
the Declaration of the Rights of the
Child on 10 December 1959, though
International Children’s Day was celebrated for the first time on 1 June 1950.
The United Nations declaration
states: ‘The child shall be protected
from practices which may foster racial,
religious and any other form of discrimination. He shall be brought up
in a spirit of understanding, tolerance,
friendship among peoples, peace and
universal brotherhood, and in full consciousness that his energy and talents
should be devoted to the service of his
fellow men.’
UNICEF is an international organisation dedicated specifically to helping
children. Generally speaking, it works
with governments on programmes to
help children in the areas of health,
education, food, science and culture.
It currently works in 158 countries in
the world•
The United Nations
adopted the Declaration of
the Rights of the Child on
10 December 1959, though
International Children’s
Day was celebrated for the
first time on 1 June 1950.
MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Today’s children,
tomorrow’s future
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Angolan film at African
Cinema Festival in Sweden
T
he film “The Big
Kilapy” (financial
loan) made by the
Angolan film maker
Zezé Gamboa, headed the list
on the poster at the opening of
the 14th “CinemAfrica” festival in Stockholm, Sweden.
The festival, showed 39
films from 17 African countries, 23 of them feature
length and 16 short ones.
The aim of the festival
was, through stories and
artistic expressions, to show
the African continent and its
expectations from a different viewpoint to that usually
shown internationally.
“The Big Kilapy” tells
the story of Joãozinho das
Garotas (Johnny of the
girls), an astute young man
who leaves the country of his
birth and political problems
in 1975 for a life of pleasure
in Lisbon.
On his return to Angola,
Joãozinho gets a job in the
public sector, where
he gets a “kilapy”
that serves the
twofold purpose
of financing the
political activism
of his friends and
financing his own
life style•
!
REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA MINISTRY OF CULTURE
COMMUNIQUÉ
ANGOLAN CINEMA, AUDIOVISUAL
AND MULTIMEDIA INSTITUTEIACAM
The Ministry of Culture, through
the Angolan Cinema, Audiovisual and
Multimedia Institute (IACAM), is going to
hold the 6th International Cinema Festival
– FIC Luanda – in the week from 15 to 21
November 2013.
We are therefore requesting that
you inform cinema professionals –
filmmakers and producers as well as
local film institutions – that they should
register their films for the 6th FIC Luanda
through the www.ficluanda.org.com
website or pedroramalhoso@
hotmail.com.
Films for the international competition
must have been produced in the past
two years and may be long or short
feature films or documentaries of a
general nature.
The organisers of FIC Luanda will
cover the costs of air travel from an
airport where Air Angola planes land,
board and accommodation for guests.
In the event that you have filmmakers
or film institution contacts, could you
please let us have their details, in order to
facilitate direct communication.
“Culture strengthens the nation –
more culture more angola”
Office of the Coordinator of FIC in Luanda,
27 May 2013
Pedro Alfredo Ramalhoso
Mobile:
00244-923322957
00244-930579312
Angolan filmmaker,
Henriques Teves
Narciso “Dito”
MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
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Musician Bonga speaks of
Angolan peace and national
reconciliation in London
T
he well-known Angolan
musician Barcelo de Carvalho
“Bonga” recently said in
London that the Angolan
people face new challenges and that
it is becoming imperative to continue
to make efforts to strengthen peace
by carrying out a number of activities
aimed at fighting hunger and poverty
in Angola.
“Bonga” was speaking to members
of the Angolan community resident in
the British capital, where he had come
for the celebration of 4 April, the day
that marks peace and reconciliation
in Angola.
In a show split between the music
and entertainment, the Angolan singer
took the opportunity to describe the
current situation in Angola to his audience, saying it was a period of great
economic growth with clear signs that
inflation was being stabilised, sup-
ported by a macroeconomic policy
recognised by the major international
institutions.
He said the eleven years of peace
in Angola had led to a steady political,
social, economic and cultural rebirth•
Musician
“Bonga” with
the Consellour
for Press
and Cultural,
António
Nascimento
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Men’s Roller Hockey World Cup to
be held in Angola for the first time
T
he cream of world roller
hockey will parade in the
Angolan cities of Luanda
and Namibe between 20
and 28 September this year. Sixteen
teams will dispute the Roller Hockey
World Cup in four series.
Angola has taken part in the
World Cup since 1982 and has
always ranked among the ten leading teams.
The president of the International
Roller Hockey Committee, Harro
Strucksberg, recently visited the
Luanda and Namibe venues and
described them as impressive.
In this 41st World Cup, Angola
will be in Group C with Portugal,
Chile and South Africa. Spain,
the current champion, will head
Group A, with Brazil, Austria and
Switzerland. Argentina, France,
Germany and England will be in
Group B, and Colombia, USA and
Mozambique in Group D•
Portugal National Team
Spain National Team
Angola National Team
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Hotels to reduce prices by 30%
during Roller Hockey World Cup
T
he prices of hotels in the cities of Luanda and Namibe,
where the 41st Roller Hockey
World Cup is to held, will
be reduced by 30% just before and
during the event, according to Pedro
Azevedo, deputy coordinator of the
executive commission.
Speaking in Luanda on preparations for the tournament, he said the
organising committee had reached
agreement with the management of a
number of hotels in the capital on price
reductions from 15 to 30 September.
Among those already selected
are the Hotel Skina, the Talatona
Convention Centre, the Victoria
Garden in Luanda and Chik-Chik in
Namibe, where negotiations were still
taking palce.
He said that TAAG Angola Airlines
will also be reducing ticket prices•
Victoria Garden Hotel, Luanda-Angola
Partial view of Skina Hotel,
in Luanda
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MAGAZINE OF THE EMBASSY OF ANGOLA 2013 - N. 07
Mascot of Roller Hockey
World Cup in Luanda called
‘Kaissarinha’
T
A CURIOUS FACT
he mascot of the 41st Roller Hockey World Cup in
Luanda is called ‘Kaissarinha’ in tribute to Kaissara, a
former player said to have been one of the first Angolan
players to go professional in Europe.
‘Kaissarinha’ was the name that received the most votes, 323, in
a public election on the internet. Other names in the contest
included Charra Charra (255 votes), the name given to a type
of roller skate used early on in Angola, and Cassendinha (115),
referring to the Cassenda neighbourhood, where roller hockey
is very popular•
Did you know that the sun is a great supplier of vitamin D (or calciferous)? It is a vitamin
that furthers the absorption of calcium, which is essential for the normal development of
bones and teeth and affects the immunity system, the heart the brain and the
secretion of insulin by the pancreas.
It is a fat-soluble vitamin produced by cholesterol, as the metabolic precursor, through
sunlight and from diet sources. Vitamin D also regulates bone metabolism and
calcium deposits in bones.
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