Angola, Benin Official Talks Start
Luanda, 04/07 – The delegations of Angola and Benin are meeting Monday here to
discuss issues linked to cooperation between the two countries, as part of the visit of the
president of the West African nation, Boni Yayi, to Angola.
Angola’s Foreign Affairs minister, João Bernardo Miranda, leads the country’s delegation,
while the Beninese team is headed by its minister of Foreign Affairs and African Regional
Integration, Moussa Okanla.
During the meeting it is expected the signing of an accord for the creation of Angola/Benin
Joint Commission, aiming the strengthening of friendship, cooperation and solidarity ties
between both African nations.
The two countries will also sign a protocol for the increment of cooperation in the fields of
Fisheries, Oil, Geology and Mines, Health, Culture, Hotelry and Tourism.
Benin got its independence in 1st August, 1960, and it is bordered on the north by Burkina
Faso and Niger, on the east by Nigeria, on the south by the Gulf of Guinea and on the west by
Togo.
Benin’s economy is less developed and it depends on agriculture of subsistence, mainly on
production of maize, bean, rice, peanut, cashew, pineapple and cassava.
Cotton farming corresponds 40 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and nearly 80
percent of export volume. It also exports textile products, craftworks and cocoa.
Benin started producing a modest amount of oil in October 1982, but is it was halted due to
the dry up of the reserves.
|