The President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, held an official visit to Angola from 7 to 9 April. The first by a Tanzanian president in 19 years, the trip involved a bilateral discussion with her host, Joao Lourenco, a visit to Augustino Neto’s mausoleum, a speech to the parliament of Angola, and a tour of an oil refinery. The visit also saw the signing of investment agreements aimed at strengthening bilateral trade and investment between Tanzania and Angola.
President Samia’s visit is arguably the most strategic intra-regional trip since she assumed her current role in March 2021. Despite establishing early ties with the popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Tanzania enjoyed limited political influence from the beginning due to cracks within Angola’s liberation struggle, and distraction from its own economic and security problems especially in the late 1970’s.
Portugal relinquished Angola in November 1975 after a bitter armed struggle and refused to recognise a single liberation movement as the legitimate representative of Angolans. This catastrophic decision emboldened MPLA’s rivals, particularly the National Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (UNITA) and created conditions for a civil war. A Tanzanian diplomat who attended the flag-raising ceremony informed me that the atmosphere in Luanda was “tense” due to the presence of rival armed groups. The delegation left hurriedly, once the ceremony ended, and fighting began that same night.
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The onset of civil war in Angola coincided with Tanzania’s economic crisis, especially from 1975. The war with Uganda in 1978/1979 compounded Tanzania’s economic problems and undermined the country’s ability to support the struggle in Angola. Although Tanzania and Angola agreed on a Joint Permanent Cooperation Framework in 1983, not much happened in the intervening period, until the two countries agreed to revive the framework in 2024.
In her wide-ranging speech to Members of the Parliament of Angola, President Samia highlighted two points that underscored the strategic nature of her trip. She described the two countries as having “the oldest skilled” armies on the continent and recognised Angola’s role in supporting the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She also described Angola as a country that has the “much-needed resources, military capabilities and readiness to act decisively and swiftly.”
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These remarks point to clear evidence that Tanzania is wooing Angola as a strategic security partner, particularly after the recent humiliation of the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (SAMI-DRC). As I have argued before, humiliation has often catalysed major adjustments in Tanzania’s security policy.
The poor performance of SAMI-DRC has revealed a steady decline in the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) due to years of under-investment and reform failures. For many years, SANDF acted as the backbone of SADC defence operations. That era seems to be ending. Angola, with its battle-tested army and a steady economy, is well-positioned to fill the void. This shift explains Tanzania’s overtures. To affirm their intentions to strengthen security ties, President Samia and her counterpart oversaw the signing of a framework on defence cooperation.
Although given a cursory treatment in President Samia’s speech, knowledge exchange on the management of extractive resources constituted another strategic objective of the Angola trip. Tanzania has struggled to close a deal with potential investors of the prospective Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project, mainly because of a circuitous negotiation structure characterised by numerous principals with veto authority, and low confidence in its own negotiation team. Negotiations have dragged on, despite engaging an advisory firm more than two years ago. Although billed as a two-way exchange, there is no doubt as to who will be a learner.
Tanzania has traditionally enjoyed a significant degree of deference across Southern Africa. However, Angola had until recently remained a slippery target. The current government appears focused on establishing an Embassy in Luanda in a near future. If the relationship thrives, it will also counterbalance what appears to be a contested space in Mozambique, especially since the entrance of Rwanda in 2021 as a security partner.
Dastan Kweka is the founder of Fikra Institute and a PhD candidate in Political Science. He’s available at info@fikrainstitute.org or on X as @KwekaKweka. These are the writer’s own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of The Chanzo. Do you want to publish in this space? Contact our editors at editor@thechanzo.com for further inquiries.
