Malawi President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera and his Angolan counterpart, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, have signed a General Cooperation Agreement, which will eventually transition into a Joint Permanent Commission of Cooperation between the two countries.
The signing of the agreement took place after the bilateral talks Chakwera and Lourenço held on Friday.
Presidents Chakwera and João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço
Writing on his Facebook page, President Chakwera said the treaty mainly focuses on areas of energy and oil, mining, transportation, infrastructure development, agriculture, defence and security, trade and investment.
“I am delighted to inform you that Malawi has expressed interest in accessing the Lobito Corridor Transit Facilitation Agency Agreement and the Lobito – Lusaka Oil Pipeline Project and we have received firm assurances to the same. These facilities, initially agreed upon between Zambia and Angola, will among other things benefit Malawi in form of cheaper petroleum products via the Lusaka route into our Mchinji fuel storage facility,” he wrote.
Foreign Minister Nancy Tembo her counterpart
President Chakwera said despite Malawi being a landlocked economy, the country is advantageously positioned to utilize both trade routes, eastwards to the Indian Ocean and westwards to Atlantic Ocean through two important harbours, Port of Lobito in Angola and Nacala Port in Mozambique.
In respect of SADC, the Malawi leader said issues that they discussed include the bolstering of peace and security in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Cabo Delgado Province in Mozambique and consolidation of democracy across the region as several member states conduct elections between now and the time we convene for the 44th session next year.
“We have also agreed to collaborate more with fellow member states in harnessing human and financial capital as drivers of industrialization and regional integration,” he said.
