“This candidacy reflects Angola’s commitment to strengthening international cooperation and its desire to participate more actively in initiatives to promote the French language and culture, which are fundamental to the global development of education and cultural diplomacy,” according to a press release from the Angolan Embassy in France.
The Francophonie Summit “strengthens ties between member and candidate countries, such as Angola, and highlights the importance of the Francophone language and culture on the global stage, and is also an important platform for dialogue, cooperation and exchange in various areas, such as education, sustainable development and human rights.”
On Friday, the Angolan delegation, led by the Minister of State for Social Affairs, Maria do Rosário Bragança, participated in the opening ceremony of the summit at the International City of the French Language in Villers-Cotterêts, 60 kilometres north of Paris, accompanied by the Angolan ambassador to France, Guilhermina Prata.
The OIF, which is holding its summit in France for the first time in 33 years, is an organisation dedicated to the defence and promotion of democracy and the rule of law. It includes a large number of countries in West and Central Africa, former French colonies.
Until now, the Francophonie grouped 88 countries, including the Central African Republic, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with which Angola shares a border of over 2,500 kilometres. Three countries have since been suspended due to coups d'état that led to military regimes: Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
With Ghana and Cyprus, associate members, becoming official members, the total number of OIF countries has increased to 93 with the accession of Angola and four new observer members: French Polynesia, Chile, Saarland (Germany) and Nova Scotia (Canada).
Angola, which joined as an observer member at a ceremony at the Grand Palais in Paris, was the only Portuguese-speaking country in Africa that was not a member, since Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe are full members of the OIF.
Mozambique, an observer member, is also part of the Commonwealth, a community made up of 56 countries, most of which were former territories of the British Empire.
On 17 May 2019, in Paris, the Executive had officially announced the country's candidacy for observer membership of the OIF, one year after President João Lourenço expressed his intention to his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, during an official visit to Paris.
At the time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Manuel Augusto, explained that the intention was based on the fact that Angola had privileged relations with French-speaking countries and intended to strengthen integration with the French-speaking community.
