President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is back in the country after wrapping up her working visit to Angola. This trip was her first international assignment since becoming Namibia's fifth Head of State, marking the start of her duties beyond the country's borders.
Meeting at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and President João Lourenço affirmed the need to continue consolidating the historic bonds of friendship between Namibia and Angola.
The two presidents further agreed to take precise actions to scale up economic cooperation to deal with the shared challenges in both countries.
They also underscored the urgency to implement the legal instruments and cooperation frameworks to give full effect to the decision both countries undertook in 2019 to elevate bilateral cooperation from a Joint Commission of Cooperation to a Bi-National Commission, to be co-chaired by the Heads of State.
A date is to be set for the inaugural meeting of the Bi-National Commission.
The two Heads of State expressed urgency in the development of the Baynes Hydropower Plant.
While expressing satisfaction with the 24-hour border post at Santa-Clara/Oshikango, the two presidents hope that trade can be further strengthened through the envisaged rail connection between Namibia and Angola.
President Nandi-Ndaitwah and President Lourenço further agreed that a date needed to be set for the inauguration of the Cassinga and Shetekela Memorial Shrines.
The two leaders also discussed the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding in Oil and Gas.
The MoU is gaining traction, with Angolan companies investing in the oil and gas sector in Namibia.
Further underscoring that Namcor and Sonangol needed to continue working together in the areas of logistics, knowledge sharing and exploration of new oil frontiers.
Following the bilateral talks with President Lourenco, President Nandi-Ndaitwah proceeded to SONILS, the Sonangol Integrated Logistics Services.
It is a subsidiary of the country's national oil facility, Sonangol, which specialises in integrated logistics services.
SONILS has been critical in the development of local content and job creation in the oil and gas sector in Angola.
The Commercial Manager at SONILS, Joaquim Chipuco, said, "Madam President, allow me to quote from your speech on the 25th of April." The oil and gas sector is critical; Namibians are excited." End of quote. That was exactly the same understanding that led to the conception and installation of SONILS because it also represented that same level of importance to Angola. What we have is a model, an ecosystem that congregates all companies together, from the bigger OICs to the smaller companies. They are all working together here where knowledge is shared and the sharing of resources is critical because it ends up being that one single piece of equipment can be shared with various clients. Compared to a scattered solution, where each company has their own location, they would be obliged to have a lot more equipment and to burn a lot more carbon."
With the placing and management of Namibia's fast-emerging oil and gas sector directly under the Office of the President, Namibia seeks to emulate this model.