"Angola has a fearless perspective, it is non-submissive Africa that we want for the future and, therefore, this visit has a strong symbolic value and above all because it is the first country that I will also visit as President of the Republic", highlighted José Maria Neves, speaking to journalists in Praia.
The President of the Republic of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, will carry out a State visit to Angola from 9 to 12 January, the first trip of its kind abroad since taking office.
"Angola plays a 'player' role in the southern African region, in central Africa and across the African continent and in the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries)", highlighted José Maria Neves.
According to a previous note from the Presidency of the Cape Verdean Republic, this is the "first visit of State" by José Maria Neves to a third country and "comes to carry out the invitation made" by the President, João Lourenço, one of the heads of I was present at the inauguration of the Cape Verdean President last November.
"An extremely important visit, it's the first state visit I've made abroad, to Angola, an African country, but also one that presides over the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries and will be a moment of strengthening the relations of friendship and cooperation between Cape Verde and Angola", highlighted José Maria Neves.
The visit's program includes a meeting between José Maria Neves and the President, João Lourenço, on Monday, January 10, at the Presidential Palace, followed by a joint statement to the media.
"There is enormous potential here. Angola already has important investments in Cape Verde in the banking sector, in the telecommunications domain, in the fuel domain. We want to expand to other sectors, namely air and maritime transport, as well as the issue of tourism and education higher education, science and innovation and the entire area of State and Public Administration reform", described José Maria Neves.
Also on Monday, the Cape Verdean head of state will be received at the National Assembly of Angola, also in Luanda, in an extraordinary plenary session in reference to the visit.
"This visit will also be an opportunity to speak to the Angolan parliament and through the parliament to the Angolan people about the need we all have to strengthen cooperation between our countries in these times of pandemic", he said, guaranteeing that the trip to Luanda represents a " strong signal" for the "strengthening" of "relations of friendship and cooperation" between Cape Verde and Angola.
"It has strong symbolism. Angola is a country that is very friendly to Cape Verde, with which, I reaffirm, we intend to strengthen and raise the level of relations between the two countries," he said.
During the visit to Luanda, José Maria Neves will also meet with the Cape Verdean community based in Angola.
"We needed to take more Cape Verde to Africa and more Africa to Cape Verde. The free trade zone that is being implemented [in Africa] needs to be effectively implemented, accelerated, in order to increase exchanges between African countries. This is essential and a fundamental pillar in the construction of the continent's future", he assumed.
The delegation of the Cape Verdean President comprises representatives of political parties with parliamentary seats, namely the Movement for Democracy (MpD) and the African Independence Party of Cape Verde (PAICV), as well as the two chambers of commerce of the archipelago.
"We want more partnerships, we want Angola to transform Cape Verde into a business platform in this region and, therefore, this exchange would be important", pointed out the head of State.
José Maria Neves, former prime minister (2001 to 2016) for the PAICV (currently in opposition), took office on November 9, 2021 as the fifth President of the Republic of Cape Verde, after winning the Cape Verde presidential elections in the first round, October 17th.
