Bissau, May 14, 2025 (Lusa) - Guinea-Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embaló announced on Wednesday that "later this year" he will receive visits from his French and Portuguese counterparts and others to demonstrate Guinea-Bissau's "restored respect" internationally.
Sissoco Embaló made the announcement in a speech at the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the rehabilitation of the Agostinho Neto High School and the construction of a sports complex, with €4 million in funding from French cooperation.
Addressing the French ambassador in Bissau, Arnaud Rux, the president said that the works begun today are "just the beginning of much more" that will be done with the French government's support.
In this context, Sissoco Embaló announced the visit to Bissau of French President Emmanuel Macron and other heads of state.
"Later this year, we will welcome the French President, the President of Portugal, the President of Spain and many others. If one day [US President Donald] Trump visits this part of Africa, he will also visit us, because there are no small states," the head of state emphasised.
Umaro Sissoco Embaló noted that the visits of heads of state to the country are the result of his efforts to "restore the dignity" of Guinea-Bissau in the world.
"When people talk about Guinea-Bissau, they talk about Umaro Sissoco Embaló and vice versa, because wherever we go, we leave a mark," said the president.
Referring to the laying of the foundation stone for the renovation of 37 classrooms at the Agostinho Neto High School and the construction of a multi-purpose sports hall, Sissoco Embaló stressed that he wants to see all the country's children in school and gave the example of one of his daughters to highlight the importance of education.
Embaló took part in the day dedicated to Guinea-Bissau at the world exhibition in Japan and used his daughter as an interpreter during his speech, something he said today made him proud.
"I took my 21-year-old daughter to Japan. She translated my statements into Japanese. She had never been there before," said the Guinean president, for whom school “is the best gift” you can give a child.
The French ambassador to Bissau, Arnaud Rux, said that the project launched today "is much more than a work, it is a symbol of the renewed partnership" between France and Guinea-Bissau, which began in 2020 when Umaro Sissoco Embaló became president.
"Our two countries have initiated a significant diplomatic rapprochement," said Rux, highlighting Embaló's visits to Paris and the unprecedented visit of a French head of state to Bissau, Emmanuel Macron's visit in July 2022.
For the French ambassador, the two countries “have sealed their common desire to build lasting cooperation”.
The works that began today will be handed over to the Guinean government in January 2026 and built behind the French school in Bissau, which opened in September 2023.
MB/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
