KIGALI - The governments of Rwanda and Angola are exploring ways of mending their relations and to initiate and strengthen economic cooperation. This was disclosed yesterday by the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs Joao Bernardo De Miranda briefly after meeting President Paul Kagame at the State House in Kiyovu. "I am here to deliver a personal message to President Kagame from his Angolan counterpart (Jose Eduardo De Santos) and we are looking at ways of strengthening cooperation especially in the economic sector,” Miranda said.

He said that Angola will learn a lot to learn from Rwanda after the economic transformation the latter has registered over the past few years.

He said that both countries will soon exchange delegations of economic experts.
The meeting also discussed the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the progress in the restoration of peace and security in the vast country’s volatile eastern region.

According to Miranda, yesterday’s meeting is a follow-up to a previous one held by both Heads of State last year on the sidelines of the African Union-European Union Summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

"There was problem in the bilateral relationship of our two countries which stemmed on the conflict in Congo (DRC) when we took different sides of conflicting parties and we are trying to normalize this relationship,”

Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Murigande, who attended the meeting, said. Rwanda and Angola took different sides during a war in Congo when it (Angola) allied with Zimbabwe and Namibia to support Laurent Desire Kabila to fight a rebel group supported by Rwanda and Uganda. 

Murigande said that soon, the Angolan President will also visit Rwanda.
On the issue of DRC, Murigande said that they discussed the different efforts in place to curb the insecurity in the Congo, including the just-signed Goma agreement and its implementation.
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