The signing of bilateral agreements, an Angola-Portugal business forum within the scope of the Luanda International Fair (FILDA) and a trip to Benguela to see, on site, the Lobito Corridor project are some of the highlights of the provisional visit program, which ends on Thursday night.
The program begins with the ceremony of laying a wreath at the Agostinho Neto Memorial, the first President of the Republic, followed by the highlight of the first day: the meeting with João Lourenço, at the Presidential Palace, first only with Luís Montenegro, and then among the extended delegations, which will end with interventions by the two heads of Government and a press conference.
On this occasion, several legal instruments, not yet disclosed, will be signed.
In July last year, during the visit of then Prime Minister António Costa to Luanda, the Portugal-Angola credit line was reinforced from 1.5 to two billion euros.
After a lunch offered to the Portuguese Prime Minister by the President of the Republic, Luís Montenegro will visit the Portuguese School of Luanda. At the end of June, the Minister of Education, Fernando Alexandre, announced a solution for the 70 teachers who were "in a situation of serious precariousness" in this establishment.
Still on the first day of the visit, the Portuguese prime minister will go to Fortaleza de São Miguel, a 16th century military fortification that became a museum after Angola's independence and, between 2009 and 2013, was the subject of rehabilitation works, including the restoration of tile panels of Portuguese origin.
The first day's agenda ends with a reception for the Portuguese community, in a hotel in Luanda, with a performance by Angolan singer and composer Toty Sa'Med (TBC).
The second day will focus on the economic aspect, one of the pillars of this trip, starting with visits to two companies: Powergol, which originates in Braga and operates in the area of energy and electrical equipment (focusing on staff training), and Refriango, a leading Angolan company in the production of drinks.
In the afternoon, Luís Montenegro visits the Portuguese pavilion and several stands of Portuguese and Angolan companies at FILDA, and closes the Angola-Portugal Business Forum, dedicated to the theme of the agri-food sector.
The Portuguese Minister of Economy, Pedro Reis, and the Minister for Economic Coordination, José Lima Massano, will also speak at this forum.
The third and final day of the visit, on Thursday, will be spent almost entirely in the province of Benguela, in the west of Angola, where you will discover the country's most emblematic development project, the Lobito Corridor.
With financing from the United States and the European Union, the Lobito Corridor connects the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico and integrates as infrastructure the port of Lobito, the Mineiro Terminal, Catumbela airport and Benguela Railway, extending the connection to the mining areas of the Copperbelt, in Zambia, and Katanga, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, promoting faster and more competitive exports of cobalt, copper and other ores from these countries.
The Prime Minister of Portugal will begin by meeting with the Governor of the Province of Benguela, Luís Manuel da Fonseca Nunes, and will visit the future facilities of the Consulate General, followed by a trip to the largest photovoltaic solar plant in Angola, Central Solar do Biópio, and the port of the city of Lobito, before reaching the Benguela Railway and the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), the consortium made up of Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis that has the concession for 30 years.
Luís Montenegro returns to Luanda in the late afternoon, where he will have military honors at the farewell ceremony at the Presidential Palace, with a meeting with the press and a dinner hosted by the Portuguese ambassador in Luanda, Francisco Alegre Duarte, scheduled before flying that night to Lisbon, where he will arrive in the early hours of Friday.
