Luanda — The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, on Wednesday received his counterparts from Ethiopia and Cape Verde, respectively, Sahle-Work Zewde and José Maria Neves, in separate meetings.

The President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, told the press that the courtesy meeting served to address some issues, which include the strengthening of bilateral relations.

"I am in Luanda participating in the III Biennale and so I took the opportunity to pay a courtesy visit to my brother, President João Lourenço", the Ethiopian stateswoman said.

She added that the two countries have good relations at various levels and date back to the beginning of the liberation struggle for Angola's independence.

On the other hand, José Maria Neves said that he spoke with João Lourenço, in his capacity as Champion of Peace of the African Union, about peace and reconciliation on the continent, recalling the existence of conflict areas in the central region mediated by the Angolan Head of State.

"We hope that in the near future we will be able to have peace and good relations between the different countries so that we can accelerate the pace of socio-economic transformation of the continent, as well as the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo and that it will serve to strengthen democracy, institutions and ensure peace and development," he stressed.

He said that the meeting also discussed relations between the two governments, with good prospects in the areas of transport and tourism, in addition to the investments that are already in Cape Verde, particularly in the areas of banking, fuel and telecommunications.

He considered that relations are very good and excellent and the openness of the two parties to strengthen them only helps to make them excellent.

"They are two friendly peoples, so it was a meeting of friends to assess the excellent relations and envision the best future for the two countries," he concluded. VIC/ADR/DOJ