Nigeria, Angola To Seal 15 Pacts As Joint Commission Resumes After 24 Years
Nigeria and Angola are set to sign no fewer than 15 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) as the 5th session of the Nigeria-Angola Bilateral Economic Joint Commission (BEJC) opened in Luanda on Tuesday, marking a major step forward in rekindling ties stalled for more than two decades.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said the new agreements would reactivate moribund bilateral arrangements and push relations “to a higher pedestal,” with cooperation spanning security, defence, migration, education, youth development, anti-corruption, and technical manpower assistance.
She noted that Nigeria had played a pivotal role in Angola’s liberation struggle and was the first country to establish a diplomatic mission in Luanda in 1975. The renewed engagement, she added, showed “the collective determination of both nations to transform historic bonds into concrete development opportunities.”
Angola’s Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Domingos Vieira Lopes, welcomed the Nigerian delegation, saying the agreements would usher in “new dynamics” in bilateral relations and deliver “enormous mutual benefits” to both peoples.
The BEJC, last held in Abuja in 2001, runs until Friday, with both sides expected to conclude deals across defence, trade, transport, mineral resources, health, media, and banking cooperation.
