The Diplomat
King Felipe VI and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received yesterday in Madrid the President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, in the first working visit of a head of state of this African country to Spain.
On the one hand, the King held a meeting and lunch with the President of Guinea-Bissau at La Zarzuela Palace, according to the Royal Household. During the meeting with the King, the Spanish Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Pilar Cancela, and the Spanish Ambassador to Bissau, Antonio González-Zavala, were present on the Spanish side. On the Guinean side, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Suzi Carla Barbosa, and the Minister of Finance, Ilídio Vieira Té, were present.
Umaro Sissoco Embaló was also received by Pedro Sánchez at the Moncloa Palace. During the meeting, the head of the Executive conveyed Spain’s support for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), whose rotating presidency is currently held by Guinea-Bissau, a “key organization in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region, as well as in the defense of democracy and good governance in West Africa”.
The President of the Government also discussed with the Guinean Head of State the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will take place during the second half of the year, and both leaders stressed the importance of continuing to strengthen political, economic and cooperation relations, according to Moncloa in a press release.
Umaro Sissoco Embalo, born in 1972 in Bissau and former student of International Relations at the Technical University of Lisbon and General Staff at the National Defense Center of Spain (Madrid), was prime minister between 2016 and 2018, during the term of President José Mario Vaz, and began his presidential term in 2020.
This past Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, received in Madrid his counterpart from Guinea-Bissau, Suzi Barbosa, with whom he discussed the deepening of bilateral relations and on cooperation and the challenges and opportunities in the region. Albares visited Guinea-Bissau on January 12 as part of his second tour of Sub-Saharan Africa, which also included Niger and Nigeria. During his visit, the minister met with Suzi Barbosa and visited Spanish Cooperation projects.
Spain has maintained relations with Guinea-Bissau since its independence in 1974. Ties were strengthened after the opening of the Spanish Embassy in Bissau in 2007. The most relevant bilateral issues are immigration (the two countries maintain a new generation Migratory Cooperation Agreement since 2008) and fisheries (the new fisheries agreement 2019-2024 is of great importance for Spain because most of the licenses issued by the Guinea-Bissau authorities are granted to Spanish-flagged fishing vessels).
Bilateral relations in the economic and commercial sphere are limited, although the presence of Spanish companies is becoming increasingly noticeable. Precisely on the occasion of the President’s official visit, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, together with the Secretary of State for Trade through ICEX Spain Export and Investment and the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), will organize today a Business Meeting that “is an excellent opportunity for Spanish companies to learn first-hand about the current situation in the country, its priorities and opportunities,” according to the Chamber.
In addition, Guinea Bissau was listed as one of the priority countries in the first three Master Plans of Spanish Cooperation. Guinea-Bissau receives cooperation from Spanish civil society, from the Autonomous Communities of Andalusia, Cantabria, Galicia and Extremadura, and from the European Union.
