During her trip to Angola, Administrator Samantha Power announced expanding partnerships that reflect the deepening relationship between the United States and Angola.
At Angola’s Instituto Nacional de Investigação em Saúde (National Health Research Institute) Administrator Power announced that USAID-led U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) is expanding geographic coverage for malaria prevention and control activities in Angola, to include the province of Moxico. This provides financial and technical assistance that enables the Government of the Republic of Angola to deploy life-saving interventions proven to fight malaria. Angola is highly vulnerable to malaria, and its prevalence is particularly high in Moxico, the country’s largest province. The expansion of PMI’s geographic coverage to Moxico comes with a strong commitment from the Government of the Republic of Angola to ensure that key gaps in malaria prevention and treatment are addressed in other areas of the country. PMI’s collaboration with Angola has contributed to a 29 percent reduction in deaths from malaria since 2020.
Since 2006, PMI has invested $415 million in Angola, including the procurement and delivery of insecticide-treated nets as well as commodities used for malaria diagnosis and treatment, health worker training, and investments in entomological monitoring and supply chain management.
In Benguela, Administrator Power launched an expansion of the USAID project Women in Angolan Farming, a public-private partnership to strengthen livelihoods and increase food security in rural communities by empowering women to be leaders in the agricultural sector. Women in Angola Farming is currently active in six provinces in Angola, and the new funding will allow the program to expand into four additional provinces: Cuando Cubango, Benguela, Huambo, and Bié. Benguela, Huambo, and Bié provinces are part of the Lobito Corridor, an area being developed to connect the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia to regional and global trade markets via railways to the Port of Lobito.
More than 20,000 women smallholder farmers will benefit from this project, not only by being able to increase their agricultural output, but also through increased access to national identity cards, birth certificates, bank and mobile money accounts, basic literacy, and land tenure, all of which are critical for wider and gender equitable rural development.
Administrator Power also launched the start of a new partnership with the Ministry of Transport to increase private investment in infrastructure. The partnership will build capacity to replicate the success of the Lobito Atlantic Rail concession of December 2022 and the Lobito Port concession of March 2024, through additional open, transparent, and competitive procurements in infrastructure.
The new partnership between the USAID and the Angolan Ministry of Transport supports the Government of Angola’s goal of facilitating similar procurements that can generate private investment in Angola’s infrastructure in Lobito and across the country, without having to rely on burdensome debt finance. These investments will create thousands of jobs and provide new economic opportunities for Angolans in the Corridor and beyond.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United States Agency for International Development (USAID).