Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba has announced that the country will utilize Angola’s oil and gas framework as a guideline for industry development, underscoring Namibia’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation with its regional neighbor.
President Mbumba met with Angolan President João Lourenço in Luanda last week, where the two parties agreed to establish a bi-national commission to advance collaboration in oil and gas.
The presidents “underlined the need to strengthen cooperation in the areas of oil and gas, energy, agriculture and water underscoring that Namibia has a lot to learn from Angola in the oil and gas sectors,” a statement from the Namibian Presidency read.
Additionally, a tripartite agreement has been signed between the Namibian Ports Authority and the respective national oil companies of Angola and Namibia – Sonangol and NAMCOR. The agreement lays the foundation to establish an integrated logistics base in Namibia to support oil and gas development and trade.
The base will replicate the Sonangol Integrated Logistics Services (SONILS) base in Luanda, and President Mbumba has invited SONILS to work with Namibian companies on emerging industry opportunities.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Namibia and the National Bank of Angola have set the end of 2024 as the deadline for establishing a payment instrument to support bilateral trade. An MoU for the financial instrument was signed in 2023.
According to Manuel Tiago Dias, Governor of the National Bank of Angola, “The technical work was carried out and assessed at the level of the administrations of the Central Banks of both countries.”
