Africa-Press – Angola. On the sidelines of the 11th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the African Continental Free Trade Area, held recently in Gaborone, the delegations of Angola and Botswana, by the Secretary of State for Commerce, Amadeu Leitão Nunes and by the Tswanan Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mmusi Kgafela held a working meeting to discuss matters of commercial interest.
The meeting, which was attended by the Angolan ambassador to Botswana, Beatriz Morais and senior officials from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, minister Mmusi Kgafela, considered as a consensus point the need to raise the level of trade relations between the two countries.
The two delegations identified products such as beef for export, in contrast to maize, highlighting Angola’s potential for the production of this product as a basis for the manufacture of animal feed.
The Botswana minister also highlighted the need to review the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, in order to identify the constraints that lead to its non-effective application, suggesting the presentation of a detailed analysis on the opportunities in both markets.
For his part, the Secretary of State for Commerce, Amadeu Nunes, emphasized the orientation of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, on the need to intensify relations with the region and agreed with the proposed revision of the 2015 Memorandum.
It also considered the constitution of work teams with the aim of analyzing and registering areas of common interest in the most varied sectors of both economies, with this confluence of sectoral interests serving as a basis for the establishment of a new legal instrument.
The Secretary of State, referring to the logistical challenges faced by economic operators, warned of the importance of developing supply corridors, which could be arranged in the region, involving neighboring countries, having mentioned the Caprivi Strip as an essential point for the facilitation of trade between the two countries, involving Namibia.
The delegations also addressed aspects related to the diamond sector, with the need to invest in mining improvement processes beyond extraction, specifically, the cutting and polishing of diamonds.
The parties also agreed, as an initial roadmap, to set up teams for market prospecting missions, the first of which should take place in Angola, within a period to be agreed with the Angolan Diplomatic Mission in Botswana and the Ministry of Industry and of Commerce.
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