Interview with Consulado Honorario da Estónia em Angola Mr.Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos

Chronicles of Cigdem ICT Week

Interview with Consulado Honorario da Estónia em Angola Mr.Pedro Medeiros
dos Anjos

Remembering my World around trips and ceremonial masks on rituals in
different locations , a word Portuguese-Africans "Bushmen" (Gods Must be
Crazy movie) and anticolonial resistance remind me a country divided
into 18 provinces, has a coastline at Atlantic Ocean with rich variety
located on the southwestern coast of Africa, Namely ,Angola with diverse
ethno linguistic groups have distinct cultural profiles are Ovimbundu,,
Kimbundu, Bakongo, Mixed European and Native African called Mesticos. . The
cultural ancestries of Angola are knotted to the traditions of the central
Bantu peoples and the ancient kingdom of Congo.

So Angola, a republic on the western coast of southern Africa bordered by
the Atlantic Ocean in west, Namibia in the south, the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (Ex- Zaire) in the North, and Zambia in the East has a lot to
be mentioned .


Me ,H. Cigdem Yorgancioglu as a producer and presenter of Radio-TV
Diplomatic Programs and as a diplomatic columnist, it's my honor and
pleasure to meet one of the member of Angolan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
at the second edition of the ICT Week 2015 Estonia, with twenty thematic
events, loads of inspiring speakers and over 3,000 partakers from all over
the world and focused mainy on topics like e-Governance and e-Residency,
Green IT, Smart Industry, Fintech and the Hardware Evolution,



He aims encouraging Estonia in Angola and trying to give a tiny flavor of
Angola in Estonia with belief both countries, despite being almost the
opposite geographically one in Northern Europe and the other in Sub-Saharan
Africa, are both prospering in their respective regions. A person intend
to create a bridge to make sure the two countries remain in close economic
and diplomatic contact.He is Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos Estonian
Honorary Consul in Angola .

H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu Would you please tell about yourself .

Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos I have a Master's in International
Management Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa / ISCTE
and a B.A. in International Business from the American University of Paris.

Worked in Banking and Telco, and recently I'm a board member of
an Angolan group with interests in Oil&Gas, Insurance, Entertainment and
Mining.


H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu How long have you been serving as Honoree Consulate
for Estonia in Angola ?

Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos I've had the honor to serve as the H.C. for
Estonia in Angola for a little over 2 years.

H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu What is th most important values you want to
mention about your country Angola ? 

Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos Angolan History is being rewritten every day
by it's people. The lady that wakes up at 5 a.m. to go sell in the market
to send her daughter to college is rewriting Angolan History, the teacher
that has limited resources but still manages to educate a classroom is
rewriting history, the mother that has to be imaginative to feed 8 children
is doing that also.

But if I had to describe Angola in 3 words it would be:

- Home
- Future
- Resilient 

H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu Are there any activities organized by your Consulate
to tie the culture of Estonia and Angola

Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos So far I've been focusing on Economic Diplomacy,
and in the background, making sure Angolans know about the New Estonia.
What do I mean by New Estonia? For historical reasons, Angolans are aware
of Estonia. Many of our decision makers were sent to schools and
Universities in Eastern Block Countries.

Even our President studied Petroleum Engineering in Baku. With that in
mind, we as Angolans were familiarized with the 3 Soviet Republics in the
Baltics. What we were not aware was, the incredible success story that is
Estonia, and the way that its people was able to use technology to create a
more transparent society where mobility is encouraged.

H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu Why the EU Digital Single Market Strategy is
important to Estonia and Angola ? 

Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos Angola is a young country, and as such, we
need to establish partnerships with some countries that have paved the way
to what a successful digital society truly is. Therefore, Estonia is a
good role model.
 

H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu What was your first impressions at Estonia? 

Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos I have couple of Estonian friends in
Portugal, as one of them was my colleague at the Master's program, so I
knew a bit about Estonia. However, I had no idea of the degree of tech
expertise the whole Estonian society and like I tell my Estonian friends,
it was "Love at first byte" 

H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu What do you think about the importance of ICT for
Estonia and Angola What do you think about the innovative partnerships and
cooperation. on ICT sector between Angola and Estonia?

Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos Angola is a 3rd world country that is coming
from 500 years of slavery and a 30 year civil war. Therefore, we have many
problems that are unknown to a country like Estonia and the rest of the
European Union.

However, the Angolan Government, led by our President is doing a great job
promoting IT and fighting tech exclusion specially for the Angolan Youth.

"H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu What do you think about the innovative partnerships and "
"cooperation? on ICT sector between Angola and Estonia?? "
" "
"Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos We had a couple of delegations from Angola, "
"attending the ICT Week in Estonia in consecutive years (2013, 2014). This year, "
"due to the fact that Angola was also hosting our own ICT Week almost at the "
"exact same time, our delegation could not attend, but I was able to report back "
"to our decision makers the breakthroughs in the ICT sector in Estonia. "
" "
"H.Cigdem Yorgancioglu What do you think about the E-Governance Projects in "
"Estonia ? "
" "
"Pedro Medeiros dos Anjos I firmly believe that Estonia has a lot to teach "
"the world regarding e-Gov projects. That is even more valid to a young country "
"like ours, coming from 500 Years of Colonialism and a 30 Year Civil War. "
" "
"It would be my pleasure to be able to contribute to the development of the e-Gov"
"sector in Angola, using the Estonian success story and adapting to our Angolan "
"and African reality. We have a long task at hand, but, like the Estonian people,"
"Angolans are resilient, hard working, and proud. "
" "