Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness recently made a historic state visit to Namibia, his first stop on a trip to the African continent.
Holness is the first Jamaican head of government to pay an official visit to that country. He was accompanied by several high-ranking Jamaican government officials, including Minister of Culture Olivia Grange; High Commissioner for Jamaica to South Africa, Angella Comfort; Director of Bilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Shorna-Kay Richards; Honorary Counsel of Namibia Prof. Earl Taylor, and Dr. Julius Garvey, son of famed black nationalist Marcus Garvey.
During his visit, the Jamaican prime minister held a short meeting with the President of the Republic of Namibia, Dr. Hage G. Geingob.
Both leaders expressed sincere appreciation for the strong ties between Jamaica and Namibia and spoke of the history of cooperation between the two countries in relation to Namibia’s Independence struggle. During their meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed regarding cooperation in the field of sports, and for political consultations.
The Namibia government has agreed to waive the visa requirement for Jamaican businessmen and for tourism.
Holness also met with members of the Namibia private sector at a luncheon hosted by the Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He later joined the president of Namibia in the renaming of a street in the capital city of Windhoek, in honor of Jamaica’s first national hero, Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
