LUANDA, Angola wants an organisation of oil producing countries with greater visibility and projection in the African and world energy scene, said the Minister of State for Economic and Social Development, Manuel Nunes.

Speaking at the opening of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African Petroleum Producing Countries (APPO), the minister mentioned the need to complete the reform process, so that it could be equipped with instruments and mechanisms capable of stimulating a more dynamics.

In a brief history of Angola’s experience in the field of petroleum, he pointed out that during the period 2009/2017 the average annual growth of the oil sector was negative, but the average annual growth of the economy as a whole was positive, since the non-oil sector counterbalanced the oil shortage.

For this reason, he said that the weight of the oil sector in the economy has been declining from around 45 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2002 to about 30 percent in 2017, a reduction that has not yet translated into structural change in government revenues and exports, which remain strongly dependent on external shocks, in particular the fluctuations in the price of oil on the international market.

The official added that the Government is aware that the definitive and lasting solution lies in the diversification of the economy of the country, with the bet on national production, especially the staple products.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK