LUSAKA, Zambia
Zambia and Burundi signed six bilateral agreements Thursday to boost cooperation in various fields, including agriculture and security.
The agreements were signed at State House in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, after the country’s President Hakainde Hichilema and Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye held official talks.
The agreements are in the areas of enhancing commercial cooperation, social welfare and child development systems and agriculture and agriculture research.
Two sides have agreed to open up embassies in each other’s countries to strengthen bilateral ties, and a memorandum of understanding had since been signed to that effect.
Zambia and Burundi share a diplomatic relationship spanning nearly six decades.
The two countries will also collaborate in the education sphere under an agreement between the University of Zambia and the University of Burundi, the extradition of fugitives and criminals under a security agreement, and in fisheries and livestock.
In a preliminary session of the two leaders’ talks, Hichilema and Ndayishimiye reflected on the ties between their countries, calling for the exploration of more trade and investment opportunities with a spillover effect to the rest of the subregion.
Hichilema said he wanted to see better utilization of the Tanganyika Corridor, a link between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Great Lakes region, to enhance trade and connectivity.
Hichilema, who also chairs the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Authority, a role he will hand over to Ndayishimiye in Bujumbura this October, also called for enhanced peace, security and stability as a harbinger for development and economic transformation.
Ndayishimiye called for increased cooperation between the two countries targeting agriculture and mining, as both countries are rich in natural resources which can be mutually utilized to improve livelihoods.
Ndayishimiye is in the southern African nation on a three-day visit at Hichilema’s invitation.
He will address the Zambian National Assembly on Friday and grace the country’s 96th Agriculture and Commercial Show on Saturday.
