Angola President Lourenco invites Indian businesses to explore export opportunities

New Delhi: Angola President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco on Sunday invited Indian businesses to explore opportunities that can place the African nation at the centre of their export strategies, highlighting areas for mutual cooperation, including agriculture, pharmaceutical and renewable energy.

Goncalves, currently on a visit to India, highlighted Angola's strategic location with privileged access to regional markets through the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

He was addressing the India-Angola Business Forum here.

The relationship between Angola and India is built on a solid legal and institutional foundation, developed over decades of cooperation. The existing bilateral agreements -- in areas such as health, energy, financial services, and diplomatic mobility -- reflect both countries' commitment to a structured, transparent, and mutually beneficial partnership, stated Lourenco.

"We invite Indian entrepreneurs to explore these logistical opportunities that can place Angola at the centre of their export strategies -- both for Africa and the wider world," said the President.

He went on to talk about the various sectors for cooperation, which includes the pharmaceutical industry, agriculture sector, and renewable energy sector.

"We firmly believe that this transformation will only be truly sustainable if it is supported by strong, fair, and innovative partnerships. Without doubt, India's business dynamism, technological excellence, and capacity for innovation are qualities that Angola deeply values and with which we wish to walk side by side," he said.

Kirti Vardhan Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, said, "Looking ahead, there are several priority sectors where we can deepen collaboration. In the energy sector, we can develop oil and gas infrastructure and partner on clean energy. In the field of education and skilling, India can play an important role in education and capacity building, through high tech training and increased number of scholarships."

CII President Sanjiv Puri addressed the gathering and spoke about the areas of opportunities between India and Angola.

"Angola has a very strong mining sector and the third largest diamond production in Africa. The country also possesses repositories of critical minerals, including copper, gold, uranium, lead, and zinc. I truly believe that joint exploration in diamond processing and other critical minerals would develop a critical minerals value chain, potentially impacting crucial sectors like RE and EV manufacturing," he said.