Workshops in Malanje Province of Angola

Group work during the workshop

Workshops on the topic “Functioning and organization of Angola’s provincial Chambers” were held in Malanje, Angola on the 21 and 22 of September, 2011. Inger Østby from the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, NHO and Maria Vasques from the International Labor Organization, ILO travelled to Angola to contribute as resource persons in the meetings. The workshop was opened by the Provincial Governor of Malanje followed by speeches from CCI Malanje, NHO and CCIA. The workshop attracted media presence a fact which is very important for the visibility of CCIA in Angola.

During the workshop the participants were informed that CCIA had been included in the meetings discussing development of economic and commercial cooperation between China and Portuguese speaking African countries, China Council for Promotion of International Trade- CCIPT. The 28 participants interacted actively during the workshop as various highly relevant topics on financing strategies, lobbying and general functioningof the organization were taken up among many others.

The audience was also guided through the strategies of creating an analysis for their organizations. The SWOT analysis for the organization was agreed upon as being an important tool for the organization to use as well as a clearly defined vision, mission, objectives and activities. All parties agreed that the continued support from NHO played an important role on the road towards CCIA’s success in reaching its goals.

The forthcoming visit by two Norwegian ministers to Angola was also discussed in the meeting on Friday where it was agreed that the CCIA and NHO will run a joint session and the theme would be Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Norwegian and Angolan big companies will be invited to speak at the meeting. NHO and CCIA will have a dominant role.