PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Nigeria: Nigeria, South Africa must pursue Africa's integration, peace and security - Zuma
Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - South African President, Jacob Zuma, has said that Nigeria and South Africa should partner together, not only to strengthen bilateral relations but also to enhance the pursuit of continental integration, peace, security and development.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday when he addressed the joint session of the Nigerian National Assembly (the Senate and the House of Representatives), Zuma said his visit and the opportunity to address the law makers, indicated the seriousness with which the relations between South Africa and Nigeria were taken by "this House."
The event was part of Zuma's two-day state visit to Nigeria.
He said National Legislatures had come to play a pivotal role in the enhancement of bilateral relations between countries, evolving from their traditional roles of oversight of the executive and passage of legislation.
"We are convinced that relations between the National Assembly of Nigeria and the Parliament of South Africa will grow into a cooperation that will enhance people-to-people exchanges. We are also very pleased to stand here this afternoon in a building that symbolises democracy in Nigeria," he said.
He added: "In 2015, the people of Nigeria proved Afro-pessimists wrong by the manner in which you conducted the elections, thus facilitating a democratic change of government.
"We are incredibly proud of you as you in a profound way charted a way the entire continent needs to follow. For that, we salute you and congratulate you once more."
Zuma said relations between the two countries were informed by a rich history, a history that needed to be told endlessly to current and future generations.
He said: "This history provided a context within which the establishment of formal bilateral relations in 1994 between the two countries was located."
According to Zuma, to manage these bilateral relations, our two sister countries established the Bi-National Commission (BNC) in 1999 and its inaugural session was held in Abuja in October 1999 under the co-chairmanship respectively, of then Deputy President Jacob Zuma and then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The main objective of the BNC is to lay a firm foundation for co-operation and partnership between the two countries within the broader objectives of the African Union and with the focus of bringing Africa into the mainstream of global political, social and economic developments, for example, the consolidation of the African Agenda.
Since the inaugural meeting of the BNC, he disclosed, eight sessions had been held with the 8th Session taking place on 23 May 2012 in South Africa.
"A total of 34 Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding have been concluded since the inception of the BNC, thus demonstrating the extent and depth of our bilateral cooperation," Zuma said.
"While we appreciate the existence of so many agreements and memoranda of understanding, we would appreciate more if their implementation could be intensified for the mutual benefit of the respective countries.
"We are happy that the bilateral economic relations between the two countries have significantly improved in the last 16 years as evidenced by the growing bilateral trade figures and investments.
"More than 120 South African companies operate in Nigeria currently, a huge growth from a mere four companies in 1999. Nonetheless, there is room for greater business to business engagements particularly in the areas Nigeria has identified as potential growth sectors.
"These include the diversification of the economy, namely electricity generation and supply, agriculture and agro-processing, tourism development including the hospitality sector, mining, banking, infrastructure development, aviation, manufacturing and the automotive sector.
"We must strive for the diversification of our economies, so as to cast the net wide enough to create more job opportunities for our people, to improve their living conditions and grow our economies through domestic resources in the first instance," Zuma said.
In doing this, he warned, we would break away from the colonial legacy that turned Africa into providers of primary commodities and recipients of processed goods. This is important because the current state of affairs makes Africa vulnerable to the volatilities of the international economy that sustains the uneven terms of trade.
"This diversification will go further to improve the impact that Africa can have in the global economy and to reconfigure the terms of trade. We must strive to bring the manufacturing plants closer to the sources of raw materials. South Africa and Nigeria can to a large extent complement each other towards the achievement of this."
According to Zuma, the current global economic climate, as the previous global economic crisis, had exposed the vulnerability of our economies and currencies and thus called for concerted efforts toward South-South and intra-Africa cooperation.
"Economic cooperation between our two countries can therefore serve as the bedrock of the continent’s economic cooperation and intra-Africa trade. This is the kind of leadership Africa expects South Africa and Nigeria to provide."
Zuma said South Africa’s solid minerals mining experience can contribute to solid minerals exploration in Nigeria, adding "Our experience in electricity generation can also be tapped into, to assist in Nigeria’s electricity generation, to name but a few."
On air transportation, Zuma said there was the need to improve people to people linkages, saying "The South African Airways direct flight route between Johannesburg and Abuja, which commenced operations on 26 January 2015, has added to the Johannesburg and Lagos route which has been operational for a good number of years now. The route indicates the growing relations between our two countries.
"It also provides potential to boost tourism both ways. It reduces travel time between Abuja and Pretoria for intergovernmental cooperation and boosts business engagements between the two countries."
On the post-2015 development agenda, Zuma said the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) needed to be led from the front by collaboration between South Africa and Nigeria on behalf of Africa, considering that we were the biggest economies on the Continent.
"We should strive not to be left behind in the fourth technological revolution. We need to take into consideration the need to be sensitive to new environmental dynamics such as those of global warming and alternative energy sources."
He said also important was that the creation of a stable and peaceful environment in Africa as a prerequisite to attract more foreign direct investment to develop African Economies.
On continental crises, Zuma said South Africa and Nigeria’s experience in the peaceful settlement of disputes, peace building and peace keeping missions was of utmost importance for progress in Africa.
"In this regard, South Africa has been re-elected into the AU Peace and Security Council at the recent AU Summit held in Addis Ababa in January this year," he recalled, saying "We are ready to work with Nigeria to meaningfully feed into the work of the AU Peace and Security Council, for the good of our continent."
He said South Africa and Nigeria were strategic partners in the pursuance of the African Agenda, South-South Cooperation and in the promotion of a rules-based International System.
At the global sphere, he said, "we share a common vision on the need for the reform of the multilateral institutions such as the United Nations particularly the UN Security Council.
"We share the views about the reform of the international financial institutions, the IMF, the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank to be more reflective of the realities of the changed and changing international environment.
"Our two countries must continue to advocate for rules-based-international system and must unite and work together in this regard, in order to achieve a more just and equal world," Zuma said, adding that Nigeria and South Africa must forge a strong strategic partnership.
"We need to strengthen our political, economic social and cultural cooperation. We need to advance the continental integration and transformation informed by the African Union’s Constitutive Act. We need to unite and work together on the issues of peace and security. This should include the bringing into operation of the African standby forces.
Going down memory lane, Zuma said "This year marks the 40 Anniversary of the passing of one of the illustrious sons of Nigeria and Africa, Gen. Murtala Mohammed. His tenure only lasted 200 days but it had a profound impact, particularly on the struggle against apartheid and colonialism in Southern Africa."
He said Nigeria supported the liberation struggles of the people of Southern Africa and South Africa specifically outside of the multilateral fora.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 8March2016
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday when he addressed the joint session of the Nigerian National Assembly (the Senate and the House of Representatives), Zuma said his visit and the opportunity to address the law makers, indicated the seriousness with which the relations between South Africa and Nigeria were taken by "this House."
The event was part of Zuma's two-day state visit to Nigeria.
He said National Legislatures had come to play a pivotal role in the enhancement of bilateral relations between countries, evolving from their traditional roles of oversight of the executive and passage of legislation.
"We are convinced that relations between the National Assembly of Nigeria and the Parliament of South Africa will grow into a cooperation that will enhance people-to-people exchanges. We are also very pleased to stand here this afternoon in a building that symbolises democracy in Nigeria," he said.
He added: "In 2015, the people of Nigeria proved Afro-pessimists wrong by the manner in which you conducted the elections, thus facilitating a democratic change of government.
"We are incredibly proud of you as you in a profound way charted a way the entire continent needs to follow. For that, we salute you and congratulate you once more."
Zuma said relations between the two countries were informed by a rich history, a history that needed to be told endlessly to current and future generations.
He said: "This history provided a context within which the establishment of formal bilateral relations in 1994 between the two countries was located."
According to Zuma, to manage these bilateral relations, our two sister countries established the Bi-National Commission (BNC) in 1999 and its inaugural session was held in Abuja in October 1999 under the co-chairmanship respectively, of then Deputy President Jacob Zuma and then Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The main objective of the BNC is to lay a firm foundation for co-operation and partnership between the two countries within the broader objectives of the African Union and with the focus of bringing Africa into the mainstream of global political, social and economic developments, for example, the consolidation of the African Agenda.
Since the inaugural meeting of the BNC, he disclosed, eight sessions had been held with the 8th Session taking place on 23 May 2012 in South Africa.
"A total of 34 Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding have been concluded since the inception of the BNC, thus demonstrating the extent and depth of our bilateral cooperation," Zuma said.
"While we appreciate the existence of so many agreements and memoranda of understanding, we would appreciate more if their implementation could be intensified for the mutual benefit of the respective countries.
"We are happy that the bilateral economic relations between the two countries have significantly improved in the last 16 years as evidenced by the growing bilateral trade figures and investments.
"More than 120 South African companies operate in Nigeria currently, a huge growth from a mere four companies in 1999. Nonetheless, there is room for greater business to business engagements particularly in the areas Nigeria has identified as potential growth sectors.
"These include the diversification of the economy, namely electricity generation and supply, agriculture and agro-processing, tourism development including the hospitality sector, mining, banking, infrastructure development, aviation, manufacturing and the automotive sector.
"We must strive for the diversification of our economies, so as to cast the net wide enough to create more job opportunities for our people, to improve their living conditions and grow our economies through domestic resources in the first instance," Zuma said.
In doing this, he warned, we would break away from the colonial legacy that turned Africa into providers of primary commodities and recipients of processed goods. This is important because the current state of affairs makes Africa vulnerable to the volatilities of the international economy that sustains the uneven terms of trade.
"This diversification will go further to improve the impact that Africa can have in the global economy and to reconfigure the terms of trade. We must strive to bring the manufacturing plants closer to the sources of raw materials. South Africa and Nigeria can to a large extent complement each other towards the achievement of this."
According to Zuma, the current global economic climate, as the previous global economic crisis, had exposed the vulnerability of our economies and currencies and thus called for concerted efforts toward South-South and intra-Africa cooperation.
"Economic cooperation between our two countries can therefore serve as the bedrock of the continent’s economic cooperation and intra-Africa trade. This is the kind of leadership Africa expects South Africa and Nigeria to provide."
Zuma said South Africa’s solid minerals mining experience can contribute to solid minerals exploration in Nigeria, adding "Our experience in electricity generation can also be tapped into, to assist in Nigeria’s electricity generation, to name but a few."
On air transportation, Zuma said there was the need to improve people to people linkages, saying "The South African Airways direct flight route between Johannesburg and Abuja, which commenced operations on 26 January 2015, has added to the Johannesburg and Lagos route which has been operational for a good number of years now. The route indicates the growing relations between our two countries.
"It also provides potential to boost tourism both ways. It reduces travel time between Abuja and Pretoria for intergovernmental cooperation and boosts business engagements between the two countries."
On the post-2015 development agenda, Zuma said the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) needed to be led from the front by collaboration between South Africa and Nigeria on behalf of Africa, considering that we were the biggest economies on the Continent.
"We should strive not to be left behind in the fourth technological revolution. We need to take into consideration the need to be sensitive to new environmental dynamics such as those of global warming and alternative energy sources."
He said also important was that the creation of a stable and peaceful environment in Africa as a prerequisite to attract more foreign direct investment to develop African Economies.
On continental crises, Zuma said South Africa and Nigeria’s experience in the peaceful settlement of disputes, peace building and peace keeping missions was of utmost importance for progress in Africa.
"In this regard, South Africa has been re-elected into the AU Peace and Security Council at the recent AU Summit held in Addis Ababa in January this year," he recalled, saying "We are ready to work with Nigeria to meaningfully feed into the work of the AU Peace and Security Council, for the good of our continent."
He said South Africa and Nigeria were strategic partners in the pursuance of the African Agenda, South-South Cooperation and in the promotion of a rules-based International System.
At the global sphere, he said, "we share a common vision on the need for the reform of the multilateral institutions such as the United Nations particularly the UN Security Council.
"We share the views about the reform of the international financial institutions, the IMF, the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank to be more reflective of the realities of the changed and changing international environment.
"Our two countries must continue to advocate for rules-based-international system and must unite and work together in this regard, in order to achieve a more just and equal world," Zuma said, adding that Nigeria and South Africa must forge a strong strategic partnership.
"We need to strengthen our political, economic social and cultural cooperation. We need to advance the continental integration and transformation informed by the African Union’s Constitutive Act. We need to unite and work together on the issues of peace and security. This should include the bringing into operation of the African standby forces.
Going down memory lane, Zuma said "This year marks the 40 Anniversary of the passing of one of the illustrious sons of Nigeria and Africa, Gen. Murtala Mohammed. His tenure only lasted 200 days but it had a profound impact, particularly on the struggle against apartheid and colonialism in Southern Africa."
He said Nigeria supported the liberation struggles of the people of Southern Africa and South Africa specifically outside of the multilateral fora.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 8March2016
