Angola has asked for Chinese help in obtaining some of the US$100 billion worth of International Monetary Fund special drawing rights (SDRs) that richer countries are willing to transfer to poorer countries, Expansão reports.

Angolan Foreign Minister Téte António made the request when he and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Dakar last week, on the sidelines of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, according to a report in the Angolan newspaper on Monday.

Mr António thanked China for helping counter the COVID-19 pandemic, and called for the production of Chinese vaccines in Angola, Expansão says.

Separately, the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, quotes an Angolan official, Leonardo Inocêncio, as saying last week that his country has received 8.5 million doses of the vaccine made by Sinopharm Group Co. Ltd of China.