Africa-Press – Namibia. Despite strong historical and political ties between Namibia and the Republic of Congo, trade and investment between the two countries remain disappointingly low.
This is the postulation of trade and international relations executive director Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati yesterday.
Speaking at the 5th Session of the Namibia–Congo Joint Permanent Commission of Cooperation in Windhoek, Nghipondoka-Robiati said it was time for both countries to move beyond friendship and translate agreements into real economic benefits.
“The bilateral relationship between our two countries is excellent, but trade and investment remain worrying. It is essential for our two countries to share experiences in vital sectors and ensure that our cooperation yields tangible results,” she said.
Namibia and Congo share a long history of solidarity, dating back to Namibia’s liberation struggle.
“It is because of that foundation that was laid that today we can sit across this table and have a common agenda of discussion as we further strengthen our bilateral cooperation,” she said.
The senior officials’ meeting is reviewing progress made since the previous session and assessing implementation of agreements in key sectors such as mining, education, tourism, trade and investment. However, several agreements remain pending.
Nghipondoka-Robiati urged technical officials from both countries to speed up the process.
“I wish to urge our technical officials to expeditiously work towards full implementation of the agreements and memoranda of understanding signed between our two countries. They must accelerate the finalisation of all agreements that are still pending,” she said. These include agreements in health, tourism, fisheries and marine resources, education, culture and arts, telecommunications and information and communication technology.
She stressed that cooperation must directly improve the lives of citizens. “The onus is on us as technocrats to make sure that our deliberations yield tangible results in order to bring about meaningful change in the lives of our citizens,” she said.
Her Congolese counterpart, executive director in Congo’s Ministry of International Cooperation and Promotion of Public-Private Partnership, Ambassador Simeon Ewongo, acknowledged that while progress has been made, more needs to be done.
He highlighted achievements in training and skills development, including the creation of a technical and professional institute and training programmes for Congolese students abroad.
“Important advances have been recorded in several sectors, especially in training and capacity building,” Ewongo said.
However, he admitted that many initiatives discussed since the last session in 2015 have not yet been fully implemented.
The meeting comes at a time when African countries are pushing to increase intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Nghipondoka-Robiati said stronger Namibia–Congo cooperation would contribute to “the Africa we want”, but only if commitments are honoured.
“As we begin this session, our joint efforts to promote sustainable development of our respective countries should be a priority,” she said.
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