Nigeria and the Republic of Angola have signed two agreements aimed at combating illicit production, manufacture, and trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and their precursors, as well as strengthening cultural cooperation and exchange.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday by her Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Dr. Magnus Eze.
The agreements were signed by Ms. Odumegwu-Ojukwu and her Angolan counterpart, Domingos Lopes, the Angolan Secretary of State for International Cooperation, during the Fifth Session of the Nigeria-Angola Bilateral Economic Joint Commission in Luanda, held from September 9 to September 12, 2025.
According to her, the Nigerian government facilitated a landmark twinning agreement on socio-economic and cultural development between Bayelsa and Namibe, a province of Angola.
She explained, “It also midwifed another economic cooperation deal between Nasarawa State and the Angolan province of Bengo. Our meeting in the last three days was not only to reflect on the state of our bilateral relations, but also to identify new areas of cooperation in keeping with our collective desire to enhance partnership for a better future. We deserve to achieve sustainable economic growth, job creation, people-to-people contact, and poverty reduction for our peoples. Our joint commission provides a good framework to develop strategies with a view to strengthening and broadening our bilateral relations.”
She added that the agreements between Bayelsa and Namibe signalled a collective desire to promote economic, political, cultural, social, educational, and scientific cooperation.
According to her, this marks a strategic partnership between both countries to boost economic growth and create employment opportunities, thereby contributing to the fight against poverty and underdevelopment.
“In negotiations, no side gets completely what it wants or desires. Therefore, what we have in the document before us is a measure of the shared responsibilities our two countries owe each other, as we move our relationship to the next level.
Let me on behalf of the Nigerian government assure the Republic of Angola that we will deploy the necessary political will in the implementation of the content of the document, as it is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu. We also expect the same from the Republic of Angola to sustain the level of relationship in the interest of our two nations,” she stated.
Other agreements reached included visa waivers, simplified customs procedures, preferential cargo lanes, economic diversification in non-oil sectors, trade facilitation, promotion of indigenous oil services firms in engineering, fabrication, and logistics. They also covered offshore projects, upstream services, gas-to-power exploration, LNG trading and swaps, ports and transport upgrades, warehousing, and inter-land links.
The event featured the signing of a sister-cities twinning agreement between Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri and his Namibe Province counterpart, Dr. Archer Mangueira, alongside 28 Memoranda of Understanding.