Malawi and Angola have signed a general cooperation Agreement following bilateral talks between Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera and his counterpart President Joao Manuel Gonvalves Lourenco Friday on the sidelines of Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in Luanda Angola.
The agreement will among others see Malawi access petroleum products from Angola, which produces at least 1.9 million barrels of petroleum a day and became a member of the organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC in 2006.
Speaking after the signing ceremony President Lazarus Chakwera said part of his mission at the summit was to facilitate a bilateral meeting with the Angolan President.
He said Angola and Zambia had signed an agreement of petroleum pipeline to Lusaka which Malawi has also formerly entered into to be part of the development, adding that Mchinji already has a storage for petroleum products.
“Today we had a wonderful bilateral discussion to consolidate our relations.We have witnessed the signing of a corporate agreement which has set the tone for us to cooperate in the areas of transport, energy, mining and infrastructure development and will lead on to other agreements,” said President Chakwera.
Commenting on the summit, the President said the summit discussed issues of security in relation to conflicts in Mozambique and Democratic republic of Congo.
He added that the summit also discussed promotion of democracy, bearing in mind that a number of member states will host elections this year.
Commenting on the agreement signed between Malawi and Angola, Minister of External Relations in Angola Tete Antonio said the agreement is critical in strengthening the relationship between the two countries.
He said Malawi and Angola has a good relationship but simply needed strengthening through such an agreement.
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Malawi minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo said both countries will ensure the agreement translates into development of people of Angola and Malawi.
Reported by Zenak Matekenya in Luanda, Angola
