Africa-Press – Botswana. With various key areas of cooperation agreed to in principle, the three-day state visit by Angola President, Mr JoÇŽo Lourenço to Botswana, should yield tangible benefits for both states, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Lemogang Kwape has said.
Speaking in an interview after President Lourenço’s departure on July 22 at the Sir Seretse International Airport, Dr Kwape said the visit had generated some important mutually beneficial agreements for the two countries.
“A good highlight was the offer from Botswana to donate 8 000 elephants to Angola for them to revive their tourism sector. In the past a significant elephant herd in this country crossed over from Angola fleeing the then civil war, and now we have agreed to assist them to have some elephants relocate there,” Dr Kwape said.
He added that Angola had on the other hand extended an invitation for Botswana to invest in the development of an oil refinery in that country, currently one of Africa’s two biggest oil producers along with Nigeria.
“Angola has an abundance of oil and the opportunity to invest in a refinery would benefit us to improve our access to energy and fuel, and possibly with better prices, since statistics indicate that fuel prices in Angola are cheap relative to other states in the region,” Dr Kwape revealed.
Dr Kwape said during the visit, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi and his Angolan counterpart had led discussions around various areas of cooperation, noting that the two countries had room to expand their levels of cooperation.
“It was acknowledged that while the two states are endowed with diamonds, Angola has a lot to learn from Botswana on diamond mining, sorting and beneficiation, given the country’s experience including recently improving on our partnership deal with De Beers. This is something Angola is keen to learn from,” Dr Kwape said.
Wildlife and tourism as well as the cattle industry were other areas that Angola was keen to collaborate with Botswana. Dr Kwape said, adding that cabinet ministers from both countries had been tasked with ensuring cooperation concerning areas governed by their portfolios was realised.
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