Angola, Botswana revitalise bilateral relations

 Luanda - Angola and Botswana have decided to give new impetus to historic bilateral cooperation relations, after a relative "apathy" registered over the last few years.

It is an old dream of the two countries whose diplomatic relations date back to February 1976, just a few months after the National Independence of Angola, in 1975.

The details of the new plan to revive bilateral ties will be completed during the state visit the   President João Lourenço is due to make to Botswana, between 21st and 23rd of this month, at the invitation of his Tswanese counterpart, Mokqweetsi Eric Masisi.

The two Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) intend to update their General Cooperation Agreement, signed in February 2006, and sign new legal instruments, with a view to deepening the partnership and widening its scope.

One of the most immediate common concerns is to revive the Joint Bilateral Commission, which has not held meeting since 2016 and which, since then, has seen the resumption of its work successively postponed.

According to the Angolan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the re-launch of the Joint Commission's work will allow identifying areas of interest for both countries, from the perspective of reciprocity of advantages.

The intention is, namely, a cooperation focused on areas in which the two countries have “comparative advantages” and that facilitate the implementation of concrete actions.

The common understanding is that the two sides "do not need" to make a long list of areas of cooperation, but "put emphasis" on those that offer guarantees that the two countries will have mutual advantages capable of producing concrete results for both.

Angola and Botswana have potential areas of cooperation in the sectors of diamonds, education and the environment.

Diamond production accounts for 60% of Botswana's exports, a country ranked as the world's second largest producer behind Russia.

At the regional level, Botswana hosts the SADC headquarters in its capital city, Gaborone.IZ/NIC