Africa-Press – Angola. Angolan President, João Lourenço, stated this Thursday, in Washington, DC, that Angola is open to cooperating with the USA in various areas, particularly agriculture.
When speaking at the opening of talks with his North American counterpart, Joe Biden, he expressed openness to strategic partnerships in other areas of interest, such as energy, transport, space exploration and others of interest.
In his address, he congratulated Joe Biden for being the first US Head of State to change the paradigm of cooperation between that country and Africa.
He recalled that he was at the US-AFRICA Summit in 2022, when Joe Biden promised to look at Africa with different eyes, investing in the infrastructure necessary for the development of the African continent.
For João Lourenço, the US involvement in the Lobito Corridor and other telecommunications and clean energy projects are the proven materialization of this commitment.
“These infrastructures will help not only Angola, but a large part of the continent”, he said, highlighting that this Thursday’s meeting marks the beginning of a new page in relations between the USA and Africa.
According to the Angolan President, this is a new page opening in cooperative relations between the USA and the African continent.
Speaking to the press after leaving the meeting, President João Lourenço expressed satisfaction, stating that the levels of relations between the two countries are very high and Angola and the African continent stand to gain.
João Lourenço’s trip to Washington takes place as part of the celebration of 30 years of diplomatic relations between Angola and the USA, formed in 1993, by the then North American President Bill Clinton.
This formalization put an end to a phase of political tensions and indirect confrontation, which began shortly after Angola became independent, in 1975, as a result of the Cold War that opposed the former USSR and the USA.
It was only in 1993, during Bill Clinton’s presidency, that it was possible to normalize the situation and establish formal diplomatic relations, which have reached new heights in recent years, bringing the two countries and peoples closer together.
In three decades, the two States have deepened exchanges, with regular visits by authorities, businesspeople and other actors, which has allowed sharing experiences in various areas.
Currently, Angola is the USA’s third largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, with oil as one of the main assets of this strategic partnership.
In addition to the oil sector, bilateral cooperation has increased in recent years, especially in the area of commercial diplomacy, which has made it possible to approve several projects.
In the area of renewable energy, for example, financing of USD 900 million was approved, within the framework of projects developed by the American company Sun África.
In the area of infrastructure, this year, USD 363 million was approved for the American company Acro Briz, which will build metal bridges in 18 provinces of Angola.
In the Lobito Corridor (Benguela province), the US Government plans to invest USD 250 million, with several other projects linked to the area of digitalization.
In this segment, there is cooperation with the company Africell, for the digitalization of money, within the scope of a program called ‘Digital money is better’, with an investment of five million dollars.
Another ongoing investment in Angola is focused on the environment, with the US investing around USD 7.5 million in the Okavango Delta.
In the area of security, a memorandum of understanding was recently signed on how we can strengthen this relationship, both in the maritime security sector and in the equipment sector.
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