Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar opened an Israeli embassy in Zambia on Wednesday during a diplomatic visit to the southern African country.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be here in Lusaka and open Israel’s embassy,” Sa’ar said during his speech at the opening ceremony, alongside his Zambian counterpart, Mulambo Haimbe. “It is a truly emotional moment to raise our flag — the Israeli flag — and to hear HaTikvah, here in Zambia, after 52 years.”

Israel and Zambia first established diplomatic ties in 1966, two years after Zambia gained independence from the United Kingdom. But relations were severed at the behest of the Organization of African Unity in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Israel and several Arab countries, and Israel’s diplomatic presence across Africa became greatly reduced.

The two countries re-established ties in 1991, but it wasn’t until 2015 that Zambia opened an embassy in Tel Aviv. Until this year, Israel had sufficed with a non-residential ambassador to Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. That ambassador, Ofra Farhi, will become the new ambassador to Zambia and take up residence in Lusaka, while retaining her other posts.

Speaking on Wednesday, Sa’ar said that the new embassy marks “the beginning of a new chapter between our nations.”

“Relations between our countries are not only based on common interests,” he said. “They are also rooted in shared values. These are relations between two nations of believers: believers in ancient traditions based on the holy Bible. It is an alliance of believers. And I know that together we will do great things.”

Sa’ar asserted that “these days, many countries in Africa are lining up for Israel to open an embassy in their capitals. We choose to begin in Zambia.”

Israel, he said, believes “in Zambia’s potential. We believe that Zambia is a country of values — domestically and in its foreign policy. We believe Zambia is a strategic partner for Israel in the southern part of Africa.”

The foreign minister pointed to a number of projects linking the nations, including Israel establishing a trauma and emergency unit in a hospital in the city of Livingston and hosting hundreds of Zambian agricultural students in the Negev, as well as holding “special courses, especially for Zambia, in water management, food security and agriculture.”

Earlier Wednesday, Sa’ar said that he and Haimbe had signed a memorandum of understanding “on bilateral consultations” and were enhancing their “partnership in agriculture, health and much more.”

Before his trip, the Foreign Ministry said that the decision to open a permanent embassy in Lusaka “forms part of a broader initiative to expand and strengthen relations with African nations,” one of Sa’ar’s “strategic goals” for the ministry this year.

In January, Israel announced the decision to open the new embassy, inviting Haimbe to visit Israel, which he did in June.