Luanda – Angolan president João Lourenço was invited Thursday by his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, to make a state visit to that country this year to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
The South African head of state made the invitation at the end of his visit of a few hours to Angola, which focused on consolidating cooperation between the two countries and regional security.
"I have invited President João Loureço on a state visit to South Africa later this year, the details of which will be finalized in due course," Cyril Ramaphosa told the press, having considered the invitation to be a demonstration of the good relations between the two countries.
Cyril Ramaphosa spoke of the need to continue to seek mechanisms to further strengthen the relationship between the two states.
This is the first visit to Angola by the South African president after his re-election, whose inauguration ceremony was witnessed by President João Lourenço in June in Pretoria.
After his re-election, João Lourenço congratulated his South African counterpart and highlighted his "conciliatory role and openness to dialogue".
Angola and South Africa share very deep historical ties rooted in the liberation struggle against colonialism and apartheid.
Both member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are projecting a new era in bilateral relations mainly in the economic diversification, with emphasis on the sectors of agriculture, fisheries, industry, scientific research, tourism and infrastructure development, in order to achieve common progress.
Angola and South Africa established diplomatic relations in 1994, following the end of apartheid in that country and the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the first democratically elected President.
Currently, cooperation between the two countries has its legal framework based on the General Agreement in the economic, scientific, technical and cultural fields.
The agreements were signed on April 29, 1998, in Luanda, during the visit of the then South African President, Nelson Mandela, in a political and economic context of great limitations for both states.
Within this framework, various cooperation agreements were signed between the two countries, most notably the agreement on the creation of the bilateral commission, on November 20, 2000, in Luanda. DC/SC/AMP
