Pompeo lauds President Lourenco's anti-corruption drive

United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has praised the efforts made by Angolan President Joao Lourenco in fighting anti-corruption in the country.

The US Secretary of State made this commendation during his maiden African trip where he will be visited Senegal, Angola and Ethiopia.

Speaking at a news conference, Pompeo said, “During his first two-and-half years in office, President Lourenco has done great work to make it (corruption) a ghost of the past."

Last month, Angola indicted Isabel dos Santos, the 46-year-old billionaire daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, for a host of top-level financial crimes, including money laundering and influence peddling.

Great stop in #Angola, where we made progress on joint efforts to boost trade, strengthen security cooperation, and promote good governance. Heading to Addis Ababa to see how #Ethiopia’s historic reform agenda is delivering results. pic.twitter.com/WfTM1VwiUO

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) February 17, 2020

“He has increased transparency, he has helped financial institutions clean up their books and he has pursued bad actors,” Pompeo added.

The Secretary of State was glad that Lourenco extended an invitation to US President, Donald Trump to pay Angola a visit and promised to deliver on it.

"I appreciate that you all would welcome a visit from President Trump, he would very much would like to get here as well. When that will happen, goodness knows, it’s busy year, it’s an election year,” he said.