M. Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, hosted a meeting with his Angolan counterpart, Mr Téte António, Minister of External Relations, on 15 January 2025, on the eve of the State visit to France by Mr João Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola.

The two ministers welcomed the continued strengthening of relations between France and Angola since President Lourenço's visit to France in 2018, followed by President Macron's visit to Luanda in 2023.

The Minister congratulated Angola on its forthcoming presidency of the African Union and reiterated France's position in favour of better representation for Africa on the United Nations Security Council and its commitment to Africa being better heard on major global issues such as climate change and development financing. The Minister signalled France's willingness to work with Angola on common initiatives concerning these issues.

The two ministers discussed peace and security on the African continent and the situation in the Great Lakes Region and in Sudan in particular. The Minister signalled his support for the mediation Angola has been conducting since 2022, under African Union mandate, between Rwanda and the DRC in favour of de-escalation and a lasting resolution of the conflict.

To strengthen the partnership between France and Angola, the two ministers signed:

• A general cooperation agreement renewing the one in force signed in 1982, which establishes the general cooperation framework between France and Angola. It covers the fields of education, culture and the cultural and creative industries, sport, higher education and research, archaeology, health, and space;

• An intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on domestic security, aimed at establishing relations of institutional and technical cooperation for the fight against terrorism, transnational crime, illicit trafficking, human trafficking and illegal immigration;

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) enabling annual political consultations to be established, in order to deepen discussions on the major international issues and to work on joint diplomatic initiatives;

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the biodiversity field, to implement the Palanca Yetu project for protecting biodiversity in Angola, conducted by the French Development Agency at a cost of €4 million. The project aims to strengthen the preservation of the Cangandala and Luando protected areas in order to safeguard the giant sable antelope, a subspecies of antelope threatened with extinction, and Angola's national emblem.

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of sports cooperation, aimed at promoting cooperation in the field of sport, focusing in particular on young people, the training of professionals, sports medicine, the development of sport for disabled people, and social inclusion through sport;

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create an irrigation project in Angola, conducted by the French Development Agency through a €100-million loan. The project aims to develop irrigation to improve food security and is part of the development of our agricultural and agrifood partnership, aimed at supporting the diversification of the Angolan economy.