Angola Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries António de Assis is calling for Chinese assistance to help his country develop its aquaculture sector.
In an interview with the Daily Economic News during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Assis said development of aquaculture, including shrimp production, was one of the plans of the Angolan government, which has named modernization of its food production and processing sectors a national strategic priority. Assis said his nation was looking to China for assistance with agricultural and fisheries training.
“My department would work closely with the Chinese ambassador to Angola to do our best to let the younger generation learn and use new technologies and valuable experience from China,” Assis said.
Assis said he is in discussion with Chinese companies about investing in his country’s agricultural value chain and had also gotten pledges of assistance from China on introducing crops to the country, including soy and wheat, as well as feed-processing techniques.
Chinese firms are already active in Angola, which has oil exports that make it one of the few African states to enjoy a trade surplus with China. An Angolan-based subsidiary of the Haishan Group, a Beijing-based construction and real estate firm, announced in March 2024 that it would build a 300-hectare real estate and fishery industrial park featuring aquaculture, seafood processing, and feed production facilities in Angola as part of a commercial and residential real estate project.
Angola President João Lourenço went to Shandong province, a key region for Chinese aquaculture and seafood output, during a state visit to China from 14 to 17 March.
Chinese state media has been saturated in recent weeks with coverage of Sino-African cooperation and outrage at what Beijing sees as unfair Western criticism of Chinese lending and investment in Africa. A China Central Television (CCTV) report noted that private debt from Western countries accounts for the largest proportion of debt owed by African nations.
