14 Oct 2015

Botswana and Angola have agreed to kick start programmes on cooperation between the two countries, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama has said. 

He told the media yesterday (October 14) that said his two-day trip to Angola came at the right time, noting that although the two countries were neighbours, they did not have cooperation agreements in areas of trade, agriculture and tourism.

They interacted in that regard only in recent times.  President Khama said the trip was successful because ministers and officials will, in the next months, be working on details on the way forward to heighten the cooperation. 

He said Botswana had been selling beef and livestock vaccines to Angola, adding that both countries were in discussion concerning a trans frontier park for wildlife. 

“Angolans are very keen to learn more on agriculture, beef industry and veterinary services and they would like us to share our experiences in that regard,” President Khama said. 

He further noted that Angola was in the process of building an oil refinery to meet their own domestic demand as well as to export. 

In this regard, President Khama said Botswana would be exploring a partnership in that oil refinery. 

“We also looked at partnerships of them exporting power to the northern part of Botswana as they will be putting up a power station in the southern part of their country,” he said. 

On tourism, he said they engaged on discussion regarding migration of elephants to Botswana that emanated from landmines that were laid in Angola.

He said Angola had one of the highest numbers of land mines in the world and when elephants moved back on those landmines, they exploded killing many elephants and some ran to Botswana. 

He said Angola had been engaging on the campaign to remove landmines especially in areas where there was wildlife. 

President Khama further said he engaged with his counterpart, on the desire for integration and industrialisation strategy of SADC, which he said had been given to secretariat to come up with ways on how the strategy will be rolled out. 

“We have given them up to early next year to come up with the programme which they will submit to the summit,” he said. Ends