Riyaz Patel
President Cyril Ramaphosa says Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s 3-day state visit to South Africa has offered an opportunity “to renew the strong bonds that exist between our two nations.”
The leaders of Africa’s largest two economies also inaugurated the elevated session of the Bi-national Commission between South Africa and Nigeria to a Heads of State level.
The session provided a platform to re-energise and further deepen our political, trade, investment and people-to-people relations, said Ramaphosa.
“The progress that we made today is encouraging and lays a firm basis for future relations.”
Ramaphosa said there was a need to promote greater investment by Nigerian firms in South Africa, while noting the strong presence of South African companies in Nigeria.
A Nigeria/South Africa Business Forum comprising business delegations from both countries will convene later today as part of efforts to increase economic cooperation and collaboration between Africa’s two powerhouse economies.
Delegates have identified key sectors for cross investment to boost economic growth and development, including road and rail infrastructure, mining, manufacturing and agro-processing.
Nigeria accounts for 64 percent of South Africa’s total trade with the West African Region and is one of its largest trading partners on the continent.
Ramaphosa and Buhari lauded the headway made by AU Member States to advance continental integration, and said the agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACTFA) is a practical example of this progress.
Moving onto continental matters, Ramaphosa and Buhari both “noted with concern” the continued instability and conflict in some parts of Africa.
“We have reaffirmed our commitment to working together in pursuit of peace, stability and development on the Continent,” said Ramaphosa.
On the international front, Pretoria and Abuja affirmed their “common view on the need to promote multilateralism, South-South cooperation and the broad interests of the developing world.”
“We have reiterated our call for the reform of the global system of governance, in particular the United Nations Security Council, to be more equitable and representative of all regions of the world,” said the South African President.
Ramaphosa said the two leaders also discussed the public violence that played out in parts of South Africa early last month.
“As the Government of South Africa, we have expressed our deep regret at the attacks directed at foreign nationals and our condemnation of all forms of intolerance and acts of violence.”
South Africa’s president added that his government is committed to addressing the “genuine concerns of our people around poverty, unemployment, crime, drugs and migration.”
“We are equally committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that all those involved in criminal activities, regardless of their nationality, are prosecuted,” Ramaphosa added.
The three-day state visit, the first to South Africa by a Nigerian leader since 2013, had been planned before the wave of violence.
A “town hall meeting” between Buhari and Nigerians living in South Africa is scheduled for Friday to listen to the expats’ experience and to outline efforts to support them.
