Geingob welcomes ports with Guinea

PRESIDENT Hage Geingob welcomed the expressed interest of the Conakry Port Management, a harbour in Guinea’s capital, which would see the country and Guinea trade more closely.

Geingob made these remarks at State House today during Guinean president Alpha Conde’s start of his two-day state visit in Namibia.

The president said through effective use of the two countries’ ports, they will be in a position to trade more closely with each other, and in the process ensure that there is an interface between sub- regions for the mutual benefit of Africa at large.

“Most of our neighbors are land-locked countries, therefore, cooperation between our ports will greatly serve as transmission belt for import and exports of commodities between our countries,” he said.

During the meeting, Namibia and Guinea signed three agreements in the sectors of agriculture, tourism and mining, aimed at expanding bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Namibia and Guinea also pledged to form joint working committees to implement the agreements.

In order to diversify the two countries’ economies, Geingob said there is a need to develop value chains that are based on raw materials available in the countries.

“I therefore propose that investments be identified and pursued through the exchange of business missions, networking activities involving private sector representatives from both countries,” he said.

He further said that stronger bilateral co-operation will create resilience for the economies to withstand pressures brought about by external factors such as declining or falling global commodity prices, fluctuating currencies, as well as natural disasters such as droughts and floods.

“Your visit here today is a stepping stone for future cooperation between Namibia and Guinea, as we are now in the process of elevating our existing historical and political relations to higher heights, through increased bilateral exchanges in various strategic economic sectors,” he said.

The president added that bilateral cooperation should serve as a building block that will bring SADC and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) closer together.

Conde’s visit is preceded by the inaugural meeting of the Joint Commission of Cooperation which took place in Windhoek on Tuesday.

Geingob said the JCC platform offers not only an orderly conduct of bilateral relations, but is equally a unique opportunity for Namibia and Guinea to design projects that will help achieve sustainable economic growth.