Merkel says Germany open to trading arms to Angola 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out in favour of supplying weapons to Angola on Wednesday, during a visit from the south-western African nation’s president, Joao Lourenco.

“It is all in our interest that Africa can also protect itself,” Merkel said after meeting with Lourenco, who used his Berlin trip to make the case for German investment in the Angolan navy.

Lourenco said coastal protection was needed in the Gulf of Guinea region, where terrorists and pirates wreak havoc.

Merkel caused a stir with similar statements during a 2011 visit to Angola. She held out the possibility of supplying several patrols ships, in comments decried by opposition politicians in Germany.

“The #EU and #Africa want a partnership on an equal footing. That means we must listen to what is important to African states,” Merkel said in a statement tweeted by her spokesman Steffen Seibert.

“Germany is prepared to invest in this partnership,” she added.

Although Angola is Africa’s second-biggest oil producing country after Nigeria, it is one of the poorest countries in the world, according to UN statistics.

Source: dpa