Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan ambassador to Italy and permanent representative to the United Nations Agencies in Rome, Fátima Jardim, highlighted, this Friday, the importance of the Lobito Corridor for the SADC region.
The diplomat was speaking during a meeting to coordinate the Community’s activities with the group of ambassadors from SADC member countries in Italy, as part of Angola’s acting presidency of this regional organization, according to a note from the Angolan embassy in that European country.
He highlighted that the Lobito corridor presents itself as an important route both for the internal development of Angola, throughout the provinces it crosses, and where around 26% of the Angolan population lives, as well as for neighboring countries and regional organizations under its zone of influence.
Likewise, he stressed, it could also reinforce the “Great Green Wall” initiative, embodied in the sustainable development of African countries.
Fátima Jardim highlighted that multilateralism is one of the main paths to development, and countries must work together to achieve increasingly better results for their respective people.
The Lobito corridor, whose concession was awarded for thirty years in July 2023 to a consortium formed by the companies Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis, is a fundamental route to connect mining exploration regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) , from the so-called copper belt in Zambia, to the Port of Lobito in Angola, and consequently to international markets via the Atlantic route.
For their part, the ambassadors showed great interest in the possibilities that the Lobito corridor opens up for the development of several African countries, which could materialize in the creation of cross-border projects to increase agricultural production, agro-industry, tourism, biodiversity and security to feed.
They also expressed their intention to embrace the idea, from each person at their own level, to give more visibility to the project.
The meeting addressed topics such as strategic priorities to promote the interests of the Community and strengthen its role in the governing bodies of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its representatives on the Council, job creation and policies and strategies insertion of specialized African staff into UN agencies based in Rome.
During it, participants also received information linked to the African Day for Food and Nutritional Security, presented by Mozambique, about some developments of the recently concluded Italy/Africa Summit, presented by Zimbawe, as well as the implementation of the “Great Green Wall Initiative” in SADC and southern African countries.
The meeting, held at the premises of the Angolan Diplomatic Mission in Italy, was attended by the ambassadors of South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as Angola.
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