Dubai — The launch of a new investment initiative for the African continent constitutes one of the highlights of the agenda of the Angolan President, João Lourenço, during the World Summit of Governments that begins on Tuesday, in Dubai.

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, this is the Global Investment Summit for Africa whose launch event will be led by the Angolan statesman, as acting president of the African Union (AU), with the collaboration of other African leaders, including those from Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique.

Speaking to the press in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Téte António pointed out that the initiative appears as a new platform that arises from the need for a paradigm shift to move away from development aid and embrace investment.

He indicated that, for a long time, the African continent benefited from development aid, which, however, "did not bring solutions".

Follow us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the latest headlines

Hence the need for a paradigm shift and this new platform will be responsible for mobilizing investments from the African continent, explained the official.

According to the minister, the desire of the promoters of the initiative is to see it grow in such a way that the message from the African continent is understood that "what we need is not help, but investment, therefore, so that the continent can make use of the potential it has".

He explained that today there is a lot of talk about critical minerals, and when people talk about this "everyone looks at the African continent".

"But it should no longer be along the lines of the 40s, the 50s, or the 60s, when it was just about transporting the raw material without transforming it on site, therefore, without bringing development to the continent", he stated.

He added that the idea is that, after its launch in Dubai, in the presence of the international business community, the first ordinary summit of the initiative will be organized in the Angolan capital, Luanda.IZ/ART/DOJ