President Cyril Ramaphosa will this morning meet with his Nigerian counterpart President Muhammadu Buhari and participate at the 2018 Annual Meeting and 25th Anniversary Celebrations of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).
Afreximbank is the foremost pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade.
The Bank was established in October 1993 by African governments, African private and institutional investors, and non-African investors. It has two basic constitutive documents which is an Establishment Agreement, which gives it the status of an international organization, and the Charter, which governs its corporate structure and operations.
Since 1994, it has approved about $60 billion in credit facilities for African businesses, including about $8.5 billion in 2017.
The visit will allow the two presidents to discuss a wide range of bilateral, continental and global issues of common concern. Peace, stability and continental integration will feature prominently in their discussions.
President Ramaphosa arrived in Nigeria last night, accompanied by the Ministers of Defence, Military Veterans, Energy, Police and the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry.
As the continent’s two largest economies, South Africa and Nigeria enjoy good political, economic and social relations formally established in 1994, immediately after South Africa’s first democratic elections.
Bi-National Commission
Formal relations between South Africa and Nigeria have been conducted through the Bi-National Commission (BNC), established in 1999 as a structured bilateral mechanism to promote political, economic, social, cultural, scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries.
The BNC has over the years deepened and solidified the relations between the two countries, and laid the foundation for increased bilateral political and economic cooperation.
Bilateral cooperation has been enhanced over the years with 34 bilateral agreements having been signed between South Africa and the west African state.
The agreements cover various areas such as arts and culture, education, agriculture, trade and investment, mining, defence, policing, immigration, taxation, science and technology, health, tourism, environment and energy, amongst others.
Trade
South Africa and Nigeria also enjoy strong economic cooperation demonstrated by the increasing trade and investment flows between the two sister Republics.
In 2016, South Africa exported goods worth R6.4 billion, while Nigerian exports to South Africa totalled R30.4 billion.
In 2017, South African exports were valued at R5.7 billion against R22.8 billion imports from Nigeria.
“Nigeria enjoys a huge trade deficit due to the increasing South African importation of petroleum products,” said the Presidency.
SA companies in Nigeria
Meanwhile, there are over 120 South African companies currently doing business in Nigeria in various sectors, mainly in telecommunications, banking, retail, hospitality, mining, tourism, agriculture and construction and tourism.
Some of the South African companies that have invested in Nigeria include MTN, Multichoice, Stanbic Bank, Shoprite Checkers, South African Airways, Sasol and Bon Hotels, to mention a few. - SAnews.gov.za
