Gov Diri Receives Angolan Government Delegation
The Governor of Bayelsa State Senator Douye Diri on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, received a high-powered delegation from the Angolan government led by the Executive Minister of State and Head of the Civil House of the Angolan President, His Excellency Dionisio Manuel Da Fonseca, at the Bayelsa State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja.
The delegation also had the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Angola in Nigeria, Dr. José Bamoquina Zau.
The meeting was in furtherance of the agreement signed in September 2025 in Luanda between the governments of the Province of Namibe and that of Bayelsa.
His Excellency Fonseca explained that he was in Nigeria as a representative of the Angolan President and that the visit was to cement the existing bilateral relationship between Angola and Nigeria as well as that between Namibe and Bayelsa.
He said Angola was determined to work with Bayelsa State to implement the agreement, especially in areas of tourism, business, trade, and investment.
According to him, “Since our independence, Nigeria was one of the African countries that gave great support to Angola, and it is because of this that we are here representing the President of Angola, His Excellency João Lourenço.
“Bayelsa State and the Province of Namibe have an agreement in place, and we want to work together to ensure implementation of this agreement and make sure we have business relationships as well as trade and investment both ways.”
In my response, Gov. Diri, expressed appreciation to the President of Angola and outgoing Chairman of the African Union, João Lourenço, for the delegation’s visit.
Speaking on the visit, the governor, said “I gave assurance of Bayelsa’s readiness to work with Angola to ensure the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between our State and the Namibe Province.
“The trade and investment partnership will focus on areas both sides have comparative advantages, including fisheries, aquaculture and marine economy, agriculture, tourism, and seaport-linked opportunities, with oil and gas also listed as a possible area of cooperation.
According to the governor, the visit was equally significant because Nigeria and Angola had signed many bilateral agreements over the years without implementation, noting that this would fast-track implementation of the Bayelsa-Namibe agreement as well as revive Nigeria-Angola bilateral commitments.
“I also recalled attending Angola’s 50th anniversary celebration in Abuja and that my earlier visit to Namibe was informed by the similarities between both regions.
“Bayelsa and Namibe are both coastal areas and share similar natural endowments”, said the governor.
