Mbumba concludes Angola visit
His Excellency President Nangolo Mbumba concluded a one-day working visit to the Republic of Angola, where he held bilateral talks with the President of Angola, His Excellency João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço. During the bilateral talks, President Mbumba thanked President Lourenço for the extraordinary material, material and emotional support the Government of Angola provided to the people of Namibia following the passing on of the third President of the Republic of Namibia, H.E. Dr. Hage G. Geingob on the 4th of February 2024. President Mbumba praised President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço for his overwhelming presence during the state memorial and burial services forPresident Geingob.
President Mbumba informed President Lourenço that he had spent time in Angola, wearing different types of shoes during the liberation struggle, educating young Namibians in Kwanza Sul, and left Angola as Deputy Secretary for Education of the liberation movement, SWAPO in 1988. He further informed that he had been to Angola several times, and in different capacities since independence, and was now in Angola wearing different and heavier shoes that of President of the Republic of Namibia, following the passing of President Geingob, which has been a difficult and traumatic period for the people of Namibia. President Mbumba emphasized that the choice of Angola for the first work in visit outside the country was a long-standing tradition for Namibian Presidents, and he was continuing in the footsteps of Founding President, H.E. Sam Nujoma, the second President, H.E. Hifikepunye Pohamba and the late third President, H.E. Hage G. Geingob. President Mbumba assured President Lourenço that he would continue working hard to strengthen the partnership and friendship between the people and the Governments of Namibia and Angola. Moreover, President Mbumba congratulated Angola for the country’s election as First Vice President of African Union Assembly Bureau and pledged Namibia’s support to Angola in its bid to preside the African Union in 2025.
The two Presidents underlined the need to strengthen cooperation in the areas of the Oil and Gas, Energy, Agriculture and Water. President underscored that Namibia had a lot to learn from Angola in the Oil and Gas sectors. In that vein, President Mbumba and President Lourenço agreed to convene the Namibia-AngolaBinational-Commission in the coming months in order to scale up mutually beneficial cooperation between Namibia and Angola. Additionally, the two Presidents agreed to inaugurate the Cassinga Memorial in the coming few months.
Following bilateral talks with H.E. João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President Mbumba was taken through a tour of the Karam Group, a diversified company with steel, nails and pipes operations in Luanda and other parts of Angola, with some product exports even to Namibia. The company expressed interest in investing in Namibia, setting up similar operations to the amount of 1 billion Namibian Dollars, with potential 350 employment opportunities for Namibians. The management team of the company informed the President that they had secured land in Windhoek and were hoping to reach a stage when they would commence operations in the near future.
Prior to departure to Namibia, and in order to give effect to the Agreement on Cooperation in Petroleum and Natural Gas, President Mbumba was taken on a tour of Sonangol Integrated Logistics Services (SONILS). SONILS was created in 1995 to provide logistical support and related services to the oil, gas and energy sectors. President Mbumba encouraged the leadership of SONILS to work with their Namibian partners on the basis of a solid and transparent partnership for the benefit of both countries.
-Office of the President