Angola | Diplomatic and consular network will be reduced

Light trails from passing traffic run along the promenade at night beneath a construction crane in Luanda

Angola’s diplomatic and consular network will be reduced from September “in order to save human, technical and financial resources,” according to a presidential dispatch that creates an ad-hoc commission to study and propose the reduction and resizing of Angola’s representation abroad.

The presidential dispatch said that the reduction and resizing of the country’s diplomatic and consular network aims to “make it less costly, based on the funds available in the current national and international economic and financial situation.”

The resizing is explained in the order quoted by Portuguese news agency Lusa as a way to “take better advantage of existing capacities and improve operations,” in order to “maximize the results.”

The commission, which will have 60 days to present the final report, will be coordinated by the Minister and head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic, Manuel da Cruz Neto, and also includes the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Public Administration, Labor and Social Security, among others.

The commission’s duties include “studying and proposing the reduction and downsizing of Angolan diplomatic missions abroad,” due to the “funds available and the diplomatic, technical and administrative personnel strictly required to do the job.”

In the 2017 budget, the Government assigned 32.663 billion kwanzas (USD196 million) in spending to the Diplomatic, Consular and Trade Representation missions, about half to pay wages, which was an annual increase of 18 percent.

Angola is represented in China by an embassy in Beijing and by consulates general in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau.

MDT/Macauhub