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France and Angola sign cooperation and investment contracts worth 430 million euros

France and Angola signed, this Thursday, in Paris, cooperation and investment contracts worth a total of 430 million euros, on the first day of the two-day state visit by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

: CIPRA
CIPRA  

The French business group Suez, already present in Angola, signed a declaration of intent to improve access to drinking water in the capital, Luanda, benefiting 300,000 people.

Another French company, Société Générale, signed a financing contract for Angola's acquisition of an earth observation satellite and to strengthen cooperation between Météo France International and Angola's National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics.

The Agence Française de Développement has signed a declaration of intent to carry out an irrigation project, with a 100 million euro loan in question.

In the health field, France will build an ophthalmology hospital and a new maternity ward in the capital of Angola.

During French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to Luanda in March 2023, the two countries signed a partnership agreement aimed at developing the agricultural and agri-food sectors in Angola, a major oil producer with ambitions to diversify its economy.

The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, expressed his country's interest in strengthening cooperation with France in the sectors of agriculture, tourism, health, higher education, mineral resources, oil and gas.

The two countries also pledged to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration and terrorism, as well as their partnership in the field of research, student mobility and teaching French in Angola.

João Lourenço's state visit comes at a time when France is losing influence in Africa's Sahel region.

Both heads of state called on Thursday in Paris for the resumption of talks "at the highest level" between Kinshasa and Kigali, in the context of the ongoing conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo).

Emmanuel Macron is supporting João Lourenço's mediation efforts in the Great Lakes crisis, also talking to the two protagonists of the conflict.

"The priority must be dialogue and the search for lasting peace. Together, we solemnly call for the resumption of talks at the highest level," said French President Emmanuel Macron.

"Angola is assuming its role as mediator in an attempt to end this conflict," added João Lourenço, who is heavily involved in finding a way out of the conflict and who will assume the rotating presidency of the African Union (AU) in February.

Since November 2021, the rebel armed group M23, an armed movement supported by Rwanda, has taken control of vast swathes of territory in eastern DRCongo, rich in natural resources and torn apart by conflict for 30 years.

In December, Democratic Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame were due to meet in Luanda for peace talks, but the two sides failed to agree on terms, leading to the cancellation of the last minute of the summit, mediated by Angola.

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