Alberto Rubio
The Angolan Ambassador to Spain, Alfredo Dombe, identified energy, infrastructure and new technologies, among other sectors, as the most important for a balanced economic development of the African country, in which he encouraged Spain to get involved.
During the round table held at this embassy to commemorate the first anniversary of the official visit of King Felipe and Queen Letizia to the African country, the head of the Angolan Mission assured that “we are facing an important challenge in our energy sector and all the conditions are met for Spain to apply its knowledge in the development of clean energies”, as well as in the construction of infrastructures and in the creation of a value chain for its raw materials, based on new technologies.
In the debate, entitled ‘The impact of economic cooperation between Angola and Spain for the development of the Republic of Angola‘, in addition to the ambassador, the Director General for Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pilar Pérez del Pulgar; the Director of Casa África, José Segura; and FUNIBER’s Director of Institutional Relations, Álvaro Durántez, also took part.
Pérez del Pulgar underlined “Spain’s integral commitment to Angola, as an important partner and point of reference in Africa“, which, he recalled, “is one of our three main suppliers of crude oil on this continent”. A detail that means that the bilateral balance of payments is currently in deficit for Spain.
The Director for Africa recalled that Spain already has an important presence in many sectors of the Angolan economy, such as fishing, tourism, services and agriculture. She also showed the interest of the companies in the extension of the ‘Lobito Corridor’ to Zambia, a country rich in minerals.
The director of Casa África, José Segura, focused his speech on development linked to respect for the environment, and he supported micro-grids for the generation of renewable energies to promote rural electrification in the country.
The importance of languages, specifically Spanish and Portuguese, as a catalyst for a stronger and more dynamic community on both sides of the Atlantic was the focus of the presentation by FUNIBER’s Director of Institutional Relations. Álvaro Durántez pointed out that “Iberophony is increasingly present” and that “Angola is a reference for Sub-Saharan Africa, as it holds the main keys to serve as a bridge between the world of Iberophony and that of Francophony”.
The debate was attended by some fifty people, including the Portuguese ambassador, Joao Mira Gomes, and numerous Spanish and Angolan businessmen.
