Georges Rebelo Chikoti (born 16 June 1955) is an

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

n diplomat..
Angola: Foreign Minister Considers Country's Investment Market Attractive
allAfrica He is, since 1 March 2020, the Secretary General of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). He served as Angola's

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 2010 to 2017.

Early life and education

Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti was born at Dondi in

Huambo Province Huambo is a Provinces of Angola, province of Angola. With an area of 34,270 km2, it is one of the geographically smaller provinces, situated in the Central Region approximately 450 km south east of the capital, Luanda. The province had ...

, Angola. Chikoti spent a great part of his childhood in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, returning to Angola in 1975. In the early 1980s he was one of the first high-ranking officials of

UNITA The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Liberat ...

and their leader

Jonas Savimbi Jonas Malheiro Sidónio Sakaita Savimbi (; 3 August 1934 – 22 February 2002) was an Angolan revolutionary, politician, and rebel military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( UNITA). UNITA was on ...

subsequently sent him to

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

for an education program in 1978. He began studies at the

University of Abidjan A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in 1979. He received a master's degree in Economic Geography in 1985. He then pursued doctoral studies at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, receiving a diploma of higher studies (with thesis) in 1986.

Career

Chikoti emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1987 and worked at the

Imperial Bank of Canada The Imperial Bank of Canada was a Canadian bank that operated from 1873 to 1961. In 1961, Imperial merged with the Canadian Bank of Commerce to become the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. History It was founded in 1873 as the Imperial Bank ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

for several years before enrolling in the Institute of International Relations and Cooperation at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

in 1989. There he received a diploma in international relations and was also accredited as an assistant professor. At the same time he served as a consultant to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In 1990, while still living in Canada, he founded the

Angolan Democratic Forum The Angolan Democratic Forum (''Fórum Democrático Angolano'') was a political party in Angola. The party was formed by UNITA dissidents in Canada. The chairman of FDA was Jorge Rebelo Pinto Chikoti. The FDA aligned with the Democratic Reflexion ...

, a political party based on his views and philosophy. In 1992, President

José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of th ...

invited Chikoti to return to Angola and serve in the

Angolan Government The Cabinet of Angola is the chief executive body of the Republic of Angola. References External links governo.gov.ao (in Portuguese) {{Authority control Cabinet Angolan ministers Ministers Angola Angola, officially the R ...

as Deputy Minister of External Relations. In 1994, he was formally appointed ambassador in the Angolan diplomatic corps. He has represented the Angolan government at a number of international conferences and summits. He also headed the Angolan delegation to several sessions of the U.S.-Angola Bilateral Consultative Commission in

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in 1999-2000. A decade after entering the government, he is one of the longest serving senior officials. Chikoti was one of the first members of UNITA who traveled to Luanda before the Bicesse agreements, implying that the

MPLA The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (, abbr. MPLA), from 1977–1990 called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the P ...

government could find a 'modus vivendi' with members of UNITA who did not agree with Jonas Savimbi. The

participated in the first elections and obtained a seat in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. Chikoti later left his party and joined the MPLA, eventually ascending to its Central Committee. George Chikoti has many critics within UNITA, who considered his approach to the MPLA as a betrayal. Chikoti opposed the

2011 military intervention in Libya On 19 March 2011, a NATO-led coalition began a military intervention into the ongoing Libyan civil war (2011), Libyan Civil War to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 (UNSCR 1973). The UN Security Council passed the reso ...

. He said on 29 March 2011 in Luanda, that the Angolan Government defends dialogue for the resolution of the

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

n deadlock instead of a military intervention. Speaking to the press about the current international matters, Chikoti said that any military intervention may contribute to the worsening of the problem.(Republic of Angola (Xyami) blogspot, 29 March 2011)
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chikoti, Georges Rebelo 1955 births Living people Ambassadors of Angola to Belgium Ambassadors of Angola to the European Union Ambassadors of Angola to Luxembourg Foreign ministers of Angola Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny alumni University of Paris alumni Angolan expatriates in France People from Huambo Province 21st-century Angolan politicians 21st-century diplomats

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

External links