President of the  Republic

President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço

Born in Lobito, province of Benguela, on March 5, 1954, son of Sequeira João Lourenço, born in Malange, a nurse, and son of Josefa Gonçalves Cipriano Lourenço, born in Namibe, a seamstress, both of whom are now deceased.

In February of this year, and after being elected Vice President of the MPLA in Congress, he was confirmed by the Central Committee as the party’s candidate for the general elections of 23 August. He was Minister of National Defense in the government at the time the government.

However, João Lourenço performed several important positions in the State apparatus and the Party. During his career, he held the positions of Provincial Governor and First Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee in Moxico and Benguela. In the former People’s Assembly, João Lourenço was a deputy and in the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), he was head of the National Political Directorate.

Among the most important positions at the party level, he was Secretary General and President of the Constitutional Commission, Secretary of the Political Bureau for Information, President of the Parliamentary Group, Member of the Standing Committee and 1st Vice-President of the National Assembly.

João Lourenço is married to Ana Afonso Dias Lourenço and is a father of six children. His hobbies are reading, horseback riding and chess, and he keeps fit by playing soccer and karate. . The new resident of Palacio da Cidade Alta speaks English, Russian, and Spanish in addition to Portuguese.