Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has announced an additional 500 million euros (US$542.43 million, or 4.36 billion patacas) of credit will be made available to Angola in an effort to boost bilateral relations, Lusa reports.
In Tuesday’s announcement, the recently elected Prime Minister explained that while the current 2 billion euro line of credit had not been exhausted, the extra funds were “a sign of confidence in Angola’s future”. Montenegro said it would enable Portuguese companies and the Angolan government to invest in infrastructure and bolster economic diversification in the African nation.
He also reminded those in attendance that the Angolan government, Angolan companies and Angolan institutions stood by Portugal at a time of great financial distress between 2011 to 2015. Now, Montenegro added, Portugal was expanding its effort to help Angola grow in that “same spirit of solidarity”.
[See more: Brazil rekindles close ties with Angola]
The announcement came on the first day of Montenegro’s three-day visit to Angola, his first state visit to the country and an indication that his government was eager to strengthen relations with fellow Portuguese-speaking countries.
Montenegro also announced on Tuesday that Portugal’s Institute for Employment and Professional Training will begin working in Angola to promote professional training for locals that would prepare them for employment in their home country as well as for opportunities in Portugal. The initiative aimed to allow Angolan trainees enter the Portuguese labour market “more favourably, more quickly and more effectively,” he said.
To this end, the Prime Minister reassured Angolan officials that recent changes to Portugal’s immigration policy “have not altered in any way the gateway we have established with the countries of the Portuguese-language community.” For Angolans specifically, the new policy would streamline procedures at consular posts – “providing more transparent services and combating the hoarding of vacancies” that have hindered Angolan citizens attempting to obtain visas in the past, he noted.
