Joe Biden's special coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security, Amos Hochstein, argued that Angola should choose companies that guarantee secure and stable communications, given the need for data protection and cyberattacks, also warning of what he called the "trap of debt".
Amos Hochstein, made a short 48-hour visit to Angola during the week just ended, which included meetings with the Angolan President, João Lourenço, and the North American business community, as well as the ministers of Energy and Water, Telecommunications, Information Technology and Social Communication and Transport.
Joe Biden's special envoy said, in Luanda, that the US presents financing alternatives for the implementation of secure communications, but that Angola is free to choose other countries.
“We are at a critical moment of opportunity for Africa and for Angola in particular. We are in a world economic transformation the likes of which has not been seen since the industrial revolution. In the face of climate change, there is an urgent need to accelerate the energy transition”, recalled Amos Hochstein.
The US President's special envoy said that "the energy transition is an opportunity for Africa's transition" and that Angola is a "player decisive” in supporting other countries to access critical infrastructure for global markets.
On the impact of the high-level visits that Angola has received since the beginning of this year, including that of the head of Chinese diplomacy, Qi Gang, and on what has to do with relations between the Portuguese-speaking African country and the US, Hochstein said that President Biden recognizes the need to do more in Africa, considering, however, that there is no competition between countries.
Amos Hochstein said that the US presents financing alternatives through institutions such as the DfC (International Development Finance Corporation) and Eximbank, with Africell – a telecommunications operator that entered Angola last year – being an example of this support.
“It offers [Africell] a good product. We are proud to finance their entry into Africa and it is a good example because they use European technology, not just American”, he highlighted.
Asked about the risks to national security of developing broadband in partnership with the Chinese, he replied that "countries must make their choices in terms of telecommunications operators that offer security", especially at a time when progress is being made towards 5G, system where data protection and security against cyberattacks is increasingly important.
"We are not going to tell a country, do not use this or that technology, we think they should use reliable companies, but we do not want to just focus on what cannot be done", he stressed, quoted by Lusa.
