Santa-Clara - Almost two years after its closure, due to Covid-19, the Angola/Namibia border, in the region of Santa-Clara, Cunene province, was today, Wednesday, reopened to the movement of people.
The cross-border movement between the two countries was interrupted in March 2020, due to the restrictive measures against Covid-19.
This is the first action of the plan for the gradual reopening of the country's borders announced by the Angolan government on 21 January.
However, the border is open to fully vaccinated citizens with a negative Covid-19 test, valid for up to 72 hours.
Today, hundreds of citizens from both sides of the border were present, eager to travel.
Speaking to the press, the deputy governor of Cunene, Apolo Ndinoulenga, stressed that the reopening brings many advantages for both populations, which have mutual interests.
He noted that Angolans go to Namibia for commercial, health and education reasons, while trade and visits to relatives are the main reasons that drive Namibians to Angola.
He underscored the level of organisation created at the border to control the pandemic, and called on citizens to make sure they were complying with biosecurity measures before thinking of travelling.
In his turn, the Namibian consul-general in Angola, Kanaki Tjejamba, regretted that closing the border would lead to losses, yet to be quantified, to the economies of both countries, but recognised that it was necessary to preserve life.
