Luanda — The governments of Angola and Botswana will strengthen bilateral cooperation, with emphasis on diamonds, agriculture, education, health and the environment, as part of the three-day state visit of the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, to the southen African country.
The political and diplomatic relations between Angola and Botswana were made official on February 18, 1976.
In February of 2006 the two states signed a general cooperation agreement focused in the sectors of agriculture, energy, water, industry, trade, hospitality and tourism, geology, mining, environment, territorial administration, vocational training, oil, telecommunications and business.
Taking into account that Botswana is a major producer of diamond worldwide, Angola seeks to learn from the experience of this country in the diamond extraction and polishing.
Botswana's diamond production currently accounts for around 60% of its exports.
Between 2002 and 2016, an average of 26 million carats per year were produced, making Botswana the world's second largest diamond producer after Russia.
This Southern African Developing Country (SADC) member state has also ecotourism as its important source of income and it is a country with the largest number of elephants in the world, which is over 50.000.
Botswana covers 581,000 square kilometres, 17% of which is reserved for national parks. It also has vast virgin savannahs. Figures from 2015 indicate that about 1.5 million international tourists visited Botswana.
Located in southern Africa, Botswana is a landlocked country bordered to the north by Zambia, to the east by Zimbabwe, to the south by South Africa, and to the west and north-west by Namibia.
On its turn, Angola was once the fourth largest producer of diamonds in the world and represents about 5% of this market and currently occupies the 7th position in the ranking in which Russia occupies the first place.
Angola's main diamond mining fields are located in the eastern provinces of Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul.
The Catoca Mining Society is the fourth largest mining in the world, which is a open-pit mining and provides over 80% of the diamond production in the country.
It has been operating for 26 years and employs more than 5,000 people, providing direct and indirect jobs.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Regarding the agricultural field, Angola has plenty of arable land and a diversity of climatic conditions that are suitable for the production of a variety of agricultural products. The country was once a leading producer and exporter of agricultural products, including coffee, cotton and bananas.
Currently, only 10% of the country's 35 million hectares of arable land is under cultivation.
Regional integration
The two countries, members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), are also part of the Okavango/Zambeze project, which also includes Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia, covering a total of 278,000 square kilometres.
The Okavango Basin is a region rich in biodiversity, with more than 400 species of birds, mammals and other animals typical of African fauna.
Angola has the second largest portion of the project, with 87,000 square kilometres, behind Zambia, with 97,000 square kilometres of land. VM/MRA/jmc
