Africa-Press – Angola. The Head of State, João Lourenço, expressed, on Monday (14), in the city of Praia, Cape Verde, his interest in creating a partnership that should unite the national flag carrier, TAAG, and Transportes Aéreos de Cabo Verde (Cape Verde Air Transport). TACV), in order to fly to the various capitals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Europe and the United States of America, areas in which the island country is authorized to explore.
The Angolan statesman expressed his interest during his speech at the Government Palace, where he witnessed, with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, the signing of legal cooperation instruments. He referred that the idea is to combine the capacity that Angola has, in terms of air resources, with that of Cape Verde, which has experience in airport and aircraft management and for having obtained, over the years, a license to fly in spaces that Angola could not.
“We are going to combine the capabilities of the two countries in the field of civil aviation and I believe that we will all win”, highlighted João Lourenço, for whom the basis of this partnership will be in Cape Verde. Yesterday, the two States signed four legal instruments, namely, the “Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investment”, “Bilateral Agreement on Air Services”, “Memorandum of Understanding on Air Transport between the Ministry of Transport of Angola and the Ministry of Tourism and Transport of Cape Verde” and the ” Memorandum of Technical Cooperation between the National Civil Aviation Authority of Angola (ANAC) and the Civil Aviation Agency of Cape Verde”, approved at the VIII Joint Commission between Angola and Cape Verde, which took place in the Cape Verdean capital,under the presidency of the heads of diplomacy of the two countries, namely, Rui Alberto de Figueiredo Soares and Téte António.
Of the legal instruments, Civil Aviation stands out, which allowed the Angolan State to lease a new generation Boeing 737-700 from Cape Verde, in order to ensure the continuity of the Cape Verdean airline’s services. The aircraft arrived in the early hours of yesterday in the city of Praia.
“We didn’t want to waste too much time. That’s why we made our arrival, here in the city of Praia, coincide with the arrival of the first Boeing 737-700 aircraft from TAAG, which, from now on, is in the agreed terms and at the service of Cape Verde’s Air Transport”, stressed the Head of State.
He stressed that, although the Mobility Agreement in the CPLP, approved during the term of the Cape Verde presidency, is currently in force, one cannot speak of mobility without transport, especially air transport, “hence the urgency of reaching an understanding on the need to take advantage, in the best possible way, of the capabilities that Angola has with those of Cape Verde”, regretting the fact that the progress registered in the field of civil aviation is not happening, either, in other areas.
“In this area, Cape Verde is at ease and, therefore, we would like to have him as our teacher, to implement the Municipality in Angola, which is very close to being implemented”, he admitted, stressing that the proximity between the visit of José Maria Neves’s State to Angola, and yours, now to Cape Verde, reflects, well, the mutual interest in the strengthening of friendship, but, above all, of economic cooperation that, for different reasons, did not mark, throughout decades, concrete steps.
He said it was time to correct this situation, underlining, as a sign of this desire, the holding, in Praia, of the VIII Meeting of the Angola-Cape Verde Joint Commission, which had not met for 14 years. “We believe that, from now on, the future will be bright for our two countries”, he assured.
At the meeting with his Cape Verdean counterpart, José Maria Neves, before going to the Government Palace, the Head of State stated that it is time to make up for lost time, with concrete facts and gestures, to improve economic cooperation between both countries.
municipal power
The Head of State recognized Cape Verde’s capacity in terms of Municipal Power, and therefore opened the possibility for Angola to drink from this experience, when it starts to establish the same power in the country. “We are modest enough to recognize that, in this domain, it is here and elsewhere where we must seek knowledge and experience to implement the Municipality in Angola”, he stressed, adding that it will not be long before that. “The fact that there are no municipalities local people, in Angola, is an abnormality”, he stressed.
Amilcar Cabral Foundation
After the meeting with the President of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, and before leaving for the Government Palace, where he witnessed the signing of the legal instruments of cooperation, João Lourenço visited the Municipality of Praia, where he received, symbolically, the key to the city, in recognition of the contribution it is making to the strengthening of relations.
Then he headed to the Amílcar Cabral Foundation, having, in the end, signed the institution’s honor book: “To travel through this space of memories is to honor one of the most brilliant sons of these Islands, the intrepid fighter that was Amílcar Cabral”.
The Head of State went to the Amílcar Cabral Memorial, where he laid a wreath, before making a guided tour of the Cape Verde Medicines Laboratory, Inpharma. Here, he signed the honor roll, congratulating the project’s pioneers, who combine a spirit of innovation and audacity.
“These are summarized here, in the form of highly encouraging results, two decades of hard, persistent and selfless work, which confirms the success of our actions when betting on knowledge and knowledge”, he highlighted.
“A historic visit”
The President of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, considered the visit of the Angolan Head of State to the island country to be historic and pragmatic, as it places stones in the strengthening of friendship and cooperation relations between the two countries.
“This visit is, by all accounts, historic. In less than two months, I made a state visit to Angola and, at this moment, President João Lourenço reciprocates this visit here to Cape Verde”, he said.
José Maria Naves said there was a strong will to strengthen the business economic pillar between the two countries, so that businessmen from both sides could develop businesses and establish partnerships, taking advantage of existing opportunities.
“We must emphasize the determination, will and pragmatism of President João Lourenço, in the sense of getting things working, revitalizing relations and accelerating the pace of rapprochement between our two countries”, he acknowledged.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva, said that it was with great satisfaction that the country welcomed the Angolan Head of State and added that the holding of the VIII meeting of the Joint Commission, between Angola and Cape Verde, demonstrates the new direction that the two States want to give to bilateral relations. “I would like to highlight his pragmatic sense of making things happen”, he stressed, referring to the Angolan statesman.
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