Portugal and Angola strengthen ties with 13 important cooperation agreements

Portugal and Angola signed 13 bilateral cooperation agreements, mainly in the economic and financial areas during a ceremony presided over by the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa and the President of Angola, João Lourenço. The agreements were signed at the end of the working meeting between the two Heads of Government and their respective delegations on the first day of the Portuguese Prime Minister’s official visit to Angola.

The most important agreements are the 2023/2027 Strategic Cooperation Programme, extending the corporate credit line from 1.5 billion euros to two billion euros, the usage licence of the Portuguese version of European standards, in the space field, in maritime policies, in ports, in food security, for training journalists, and three financing agreements.

In a joint statement, the Prime Minister recalled that "there have been major advances in bilateral cooperation from 2018 to now. The previous Strategic Cooperation Programme had a positive enforcement rate, which allows us to now reinforce it. In the part that doesn’t concern credit lines the reinforcement is greater than 42%, which represents proper execution and the diversification of the new areas for cooperation".

The Angolan President João Lourenço said that the two delegations assessed the status of the bilateral relation and forecast "the future initiatives to be undertaken in order to solidify the ties of friendship further, economic cooperation, and scientific and cultural exchange", adding that "the relations between our countries have a huge untapped potential".

"The 2023/2027 Strategic Cooperation Programme contains a wide range of important initiatives to be implemented. I believe we will know how to be focused and committed to meeting these goals, which will yield concrete outcomes. It is essential to broaden resources to sustain the projects equated, namely for Portugal to be associated with the construction of important Angolan infrastructures", João Lourenço added.

50 years on from 25 April

The Prime Minister announced that the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will invite the Heads of State of the Portuguese-speaking countries to attend the ceremonies to commemorate the 50 years of the 25 April revolution, stating that the end of the "Estado Novo" regime also represented Angola’s freedom.

"Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking countries share a common history that is also set by a common struggle against dictatorship and colonialism. We were fortunate to have a twin liberation process" he said, adding that he’d passed on the Portuguese President’s invitation to the Angolan President during the two delegations’ plenary meeting.

The armed struggle for liberation in three of the then five overseas African provinces "contributed significantly to overturning the dictatorship and the 25 April 1974 revolution accelerated the liberation process for these peoples". 

António Costa stated that both countries are coming near to "an important cycle from a historical and cultural perspective, cornerstones of the relations between Portugal and Angola".

Scholarships

The Prime Minister announced that Portugal will double the number of scholarships for students from Portuguese-speaking African countries and raise by 30% the amount of these scholarships as of the next school year, noting that "cooperation in education will continue to play a fundamental role".

Portugal will also continue to invest in the Luanda Portuguese School and developing its hubs outside the Angolan capital to serve the greatest number of students who wish to follow the Portuguese school curriculum, placing teaching staff in these schools.

New areas

António Costa noted that in the upcoming years, cooperation with Angola will extend to new sectors such as tourism, public administration, the digital transition, and the blue economy, beyond the traditional areas such as educaiton, justice, and home affairs.

Portugal is responding in a positive way to the Angolan Government’s request for Portuguese entrepreneurs to contribute to a greater diversification of the Angolan economy. "We are witnessing a significant increase in the credit line which will rise from 1.5 to two billion euros. This 500-million-euro increase represents 700 million, seeing that 200 million from the previous line are yet to be used", he said.

"The matter of loans to Portuguese companies is being solved, although there was a difficult economic setting worldwide. I wish to thank the effort made by the Angolan state to fix a problem that in 2018 was one of the central issues we discussed", he claimed.

Making the most of the language

The President of Angola underlined that "cooperation with Portugal covers practically all the sectors of Angolan life" and invited the Portuguese entrepreneurs to make the most of the common language.

João Lourenço said that "Portuguese private investors have the advantage of a common language, a crossing between families and vast knowledge of our habits and customs. That is capital that cannot be measured and must not go to waste".

The Angolan Government "wishes to see greater direct investment from Portuguese entrepreneurs in agro-business, hotels and restaurants, tourism, civil construction or trade, textile industry or shoes" he said, adding that "there are State assets being privatised that Portuguese entrepreneurs can apply for".

"We wish to settle the matter of our debt as quickly as possible so that the men and women who invest in the Angolan market can be put at east", João Lourenço further noted.