Luanda, July 15, 2025 (Lusa) - Angolan students announced on Tuesday that they will hold protest marches in several provinces on Saturday against increases in private education fees, fuel prices and water and electricity tariffs, which are "aggravating" the suffering of families.
"We, the student movement and civil society, will be holding a demonstration in Luanda on Saturday to demand that the government back down on the increase in tuition fees, fuel prices, and the measures to increase energy, water and basic food prices," said Francisco Teixeira, president of the Angolan Student Movement (MEA), today.
Speaking to Lusa, he said that the march scheduled for Saturday, 19 July, was being held to repudiate the ministers' measures that aggravate the pain and suffering of young people and Angolan families.
"We cannot accept that the government increases our suffering and continues to cause us pain when they have everything and we have absolutely nothing. We will be on the streets because we believe that the lives of young people, the lives of students, are becoming increasingly difficult," he said.
For the MEA president, the increase in tuition fees, fuel, water and electricity prices are the result of measures "imposed" by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) on the Angolan government and contribute to the worsening of the living conditions of Angolans.
"If we do not curb the insatiable appetites of the IMF, the World Bank and the Angolan government, these individuals will completely ruin the country. We must fight together and the youth must rise up," he stressed.
The student leader therefore believes that all young Angolans "must rise up to demand that the IMF, the WB and the [Angolan] government stop increasing the suffering of young people and the Angolan people".
A week ago, the fare for shared taxis in Angola rose to 300 kwanzas (€0.28) per trip and urban buses to 200 kwanzas (€0.19) per trip, a measure that follows the increase in the price of diesel, which rose from 300 to 400 kwanzas per litre (€0.28 to €0.37) on 4 July.
Private education associations in Angola announced in June that the adjustment in tuition fees and other charges for the 2025-2026 school year, which begins in September, will be 20.74%, the maximum limit, in line with inflation, in the same month that the government increased water and electricity tariffs.
"It hurts us that they are increasing tuition fees without consulting the students, it hurts that many people will drop out of school because they cannot afford it, which is why we have called for this demonstration and will hold it in several provinces of the country," said the MEA president.
In addition to Luanda, Uíje, Huíla, Malanje, Lunda Sul and Cuanza Sul are the other provinces that are expected to hold protests on Saturday, as highlighted by Francisco Teixeira, noting that in Luanda the march should start in front of the São Paulo Market and continue to the Ministry of Finance.
He assured that administrative authorities in Luanda had already been informed about the ‘peaceful march’ and urged citizens to join the protests: "We ask young people not to remain silent, it is our future that is at stake and we cannot continue sitting on the sofa," he concluded.
DAS/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
