The visit to Kenya, which takes place at the invitation of Kenyan President William Ruto, officially begins on Friday, October 20th. On this day, according to the Secretary of the President of the Republic for Institutional Communication and Press, Luís Fernando, cited by Rádio Nacional de Angola (RNA), the head of State will participate "in an act of national celebration in the open field, at the Stadium of Football, as a guest of senior Kenyan authorities, alongside President William Ruto".
In turn, the following day an activity is planned at the Presidential Palace, in Nairobi, "with talks between the two heads of state and their respective delegations". On that day, there will also be a tribute to the "founding father of Kenya", Jomo Kenyatta, where João Lourenço will be present at his Mausoleum.
João Lourenço's return to Angola is scheduled for Saturday.
Kenya with "interest in the area of Oil and Gas and Minerals"
Andrew Mujivane, chargé d'affaires at the Kenyan Embassy in Angola, expressed Kenya's interest in the area of Oil and Gas and Minerals. According to the official, Angola "has developed a lot of experience in this sector", so "Kenya can learn from Angola".
"We are interested in the area of Oil and Gas and Minerals. We know that Angola has developed a lot of experience in this sector, as it is one of the largest oil producers on the continent and Kenya can learn from Angola", he said, in an interview with Angop.
Andrew Mujivane said they had "recently discovered oil" in the country, but they do not have the capacity of Angola, adding: "We believe that, with Angola's expertise, we can develop this sector."
"In our spirit of African development, we question why we import oil and derivatives from far away, instead of looking for it in Angola", he said, speaking to Angop.
Among other aspects, the official also spoke about some advantages that Kenya can bring to Angola. "One of the areas is agriculture. We want to help with the economic diversification program led by the Government of Angola. Agriculture is a driving force in the development of the economy. This area is central to the development and improvement of the living conditions of our populations and we want the same happens in Angola", he stated.
Thus, he continued: "The agricultural sector is the 'backbone' of the Kenyan economy, employing 70 percent of the rural population and accounting for around 65 percent of export earnings, with a 35 percent share of GDP. We have experience in cultivation of various export products, making Kenya a leader on the continent, such as tea, coffee, flowers, cereals, among others. Our government wants to transfer the 'know-how' to boost the growth of this sector in Angola".
In this sense, the official told Angop that "Kenyan businesspeople in the agricultural sector recently visited several provinces of the country, where they found that there was sufficient potential to boost agricultural production, having even identified investment areas in the provinces of Malanje and Moxico".
In the interview with Angop, among several other articles, the Luanda-Nairobi air link was also mentioned. "Flying direct to Luanda for us Kenyans was our pride, but the pandemic hit the airline which had to suspend several routes in 2020", he stated, adding that "some of these routes have been restarted and others are in the process", and "Angola is one of the lines" that are "negotiating with Kenya Airways to restart flights to Angola".
"But we also wonder why TAAG doesn't fly to Nairobi as it is equally an opportunity. I saw that recently TAAG acquired new aircraft, it would benefit people if TAAG flew to Nairobi and Kenya Airways resumed flights to end with this gap. Certainly, this is one of the issues that will be on the agenda for discussions in Nairobi", he added, speaking to Angop.
