Spanish prime minister to visit Angola

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will today begin a three-day trip to Angola, meeting President Joao Lourenco before seeing President Macky Sall in Senegal.

The visits reinforce Spain’s push for greater ties with Africa outlined in the recent “Africa Focus 2023” event held in Madrid. Sanchez posited that Spain’s proximity to Africa and rising emigration calls for a change in engagement with the region. Spanish economic interests in the region parallel those of other European countries, most recently the UK, which outlined its commitment to becoming a leading investor by 2022.

Sanchez’s foreign policy targets both Senegal and Angola as priority countries for diplomatic and economic investment. Expect Sanchez to deliver an optimistic outlook on Spanish engagement that includes continuing medical aid, investments in agricultural industries and continued support for Dakar’s and Luanda’s interests within the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Sanchez will be aware of criticisms from Spanish businesses citing ongoing political instability in Africa as a problem for investment. In his first visits following the Spanish pivot towards Africa, Sanchez will aim to strike a balance between opportunism and pragmatism to appease both Spanish and African nations’ interests, such as the lack of African jobs leading to immigration into Spain.