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The Norwegian government says it is developing an economic strategy for its
engagement with African countries like Zambia and Malawi.
Norwegian Ambassador to Zambia, Malawi and accredited to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Ingrid Marie Mikelson, said the strategy would reflect Norway’s commitment to strengthen relations.
Mikelson said this when she presented her letters of credence to COMESA Secretary General, Chileshe Kapwepwe, in Lusaka on Thursday.
She stated that the strategy would reflect Norway’s commitment to strengthen partnerships and foster sustainable development across the African continent.
“We value much tight linkages between our country and African countries including institutions like COMESA in our engagement and wish to strengthen the bilateral relations,” Mikelson said.
She stated that her country recognized the potential of economic growth and progress for most African countries and in that dormain, institutions like COMESA were vital.
Mikelson said Norway, through the strategy aimed to contribute to the realisation of Africa’s aspirations of peace, prosperity and a brighter future for all it’s people.
“We look forward to working hand in hand with our African partners to build a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable future for generations to come,” the Ambassador stated.
Mikelson highlighted that the focus of the strategy would be clean energy, agriculture, health and that this would lead the cooperation with most African countries like Zambia.
Recieving the letter of Credence from Mikelson, Kapwepwe said Norway’s leadership in areas such as renewable energy, climate change mitigation and sustainable development resonates deeply with COMESA’s own priorities and objectives.
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“By leveraging on Norway’s knowledge, resources and best practices, we can unlock new opportunities for collaboration and innovation that will benefit our region and beyond,” she stated.
Kapwepwe said COMESA and Norway had a long partnership and had signed an agreement with Statistics Norway to strengthen statistics in household food access and consumption and the project started in 2020 and still ongoing.
She added that the European Union, to which Norway was a Member, remained the main cooperating and trading partner of COMESA.
“I therefore look forward to our enhanced collaboration as we identify areas of further cooperation. Our two offices can now begin to discuss and explore specific areas of our future engagements and partnership,” Kapwepwe said.
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