Africa is the continent of the 21st century, and accordingly Hungary places great emphasis on developing relations with African countries, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry's Parliamentary State Secretary Zsolt Németh declared on Friday during an official visit to Africa.

The Hungarian MFA State Secretary visited Ghana, Angola and Namibia on his five-day tour. In Ghana, Zsolt Németh met with Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh and they signed an agreement on cooperation between the two countries' foreign ministries. In Angola, he held talks with the deputy foreign minister, and in Namibia he had a meeting with President Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba and with the Namibian foreign and defence ministers. Zsolt Németh also signed a foreign ministry cooperation agreement there.

Mr. Németh stressed that Hungary's foreign policy, which is aimed at expanding relations and trade globally, also targeted the African continent. The Africa Forum hosted by Budapest last June marked a turning point in Hungary's foreign policy towards the continent.

The Hungarian State Secretary said that economic cooperation agreements were being elaborated with these three countries. Agriculture and water management could become major areas for cooperation, Zsolt Németh emphasised. Energy cooperation with Ghana and Angola could also become important, he added. As regards cooperation in education, he noted that Hungary had offered higher education grants to these three countries under its Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship scheme.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)