Addis Ababa – Angola and Portugal are preparing the signing of a new strategic cooperation package to be implemented in the next three years, said Saturday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa.
António Costa was speaking to the Angolan press in Addis Ababa at the end of the meeting he had with the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, in the framework of the 36th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, which opened this Saturday.
“We will take stock of the different bilateral issues that we always have in motion, we will set a date for my next visit to Angola, so that we can sign a new strategic cooperation package and also to see how, each one by himself and together can give a new boost to this relationship between Europe and Africa”, he stressed.
The Portuguese Prime Minister, who plans to visit Angola in June this year, highlighted that at this time both countries are working on already existing bilateral agreements, adding that technical problems blocking some of the financing lines are being sorted out.
He disclosed that the Angolan Finance minister, Vera Daves de Sousa, has recently been working in Lisbon, Portugal, and that the Portuguese Finance minister, Fernando Medina, will visit Angola in March this year and until then the technical problems will be sorted out.
Logistics Corridor
The Portuguese Premier, António Costa, said that Portugal may develop a large logistics corridor with Angola between the Dande Basin and the port of Sines in Lisbon.
He said that last week his government submitted this application for funding at the European Union (EU), in view of the large strategic investment pogramme that the EU has and so, he stressed, “we identify this as a major strategic corridor”.
The Port of Sines is the largest artificial port in Portugal and a deepwater port, with natural depths, with specialised terminals that allow for the movement of different types of goods and for "transhipment" and inland border or Trans-European Transport Network.
In addition to being the main port on Portugal´s Atlantic seaboard due to its geographical and physical characteristics, it is the main energy supply gateway of Portugal (containers, natural gas, coal, oil and its products).
António Costa went on to stress that it is necessary to keep the work progressing as the geopolitics have changed, so Europe, despite looking too long to the East and the war that is developing in the East, must look around the world and it also must strengthen its friendly relations with all peoples.
He recalled that the European Union and Africa Summit was a great success, but right after Europe was hit by war with the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and this ended up shifting the focus a bit, but it is important to give this signal because despite what is happening in Ukraine, it is essential to continue developing the work that is underway to create this new union between Europe and the African continent.
António Costa said that it is a great distinction for Portugal to have been invited to participate in the African Union (AU) Summit.
He said it is necessary to accelerate the transition to decarbonisation, but until this is achieved, Portugal will continue to use natural gas and oil from other sources, not Russian.
He added that this is also a new way of collaborating with the African continent in the case of Portugal, where 50% of the gas it consumes comes from Nigeria.
Angola and USA review bilateral relations
The President of the Republic, João Lourenço also met with the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Molly Phee, with whom he reviewed the relations between the two countries and the situation in eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
She said that she felt honoured to have had the opportunity to meet with President João Lourenço, and together assess issues that concern the regional challenges that the President is trying to solve, mainly the terrible conflict in the east of the DRC.
To her it was the opportunity to enhance the existing relations between the US and Angola, in order to increase trade and investment, as well as other issues concerning bilateral cooperation.
Molly Phee considered of great value Angola´s contribution and involvement in the pacification of eastern DR Congo.
