Ramaphosa’s Visit Successful Despite Omicron Scare, Says Buhari
Buhari received Ramaphosa at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Wednesday after which they held a press conference.
Speaking at the conference, Buhari said new Memoranda of Understanding between Nigeria and South Africa in diverse areas were signed while existing ones were reviewed for the progress and prosperity of citizens of both countries.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina disclosed this in a statement.
”Despite the scare generated by the new COVID-19 variant, we have been able to hold successful meetings, while observing strict COVID-19 protocols, through fraternal cooperation and understanding.
”I sincerely wish to thank my brother and colleague, President Cyril Ramaphosa for honouring my invitation. I equally wish to thank members of the South African delegation and the experts that worked tirelessly during the Senior Officials Meeting.
”Also, existing MOUs signed during previous Bi-National Commission meetings were also reviewed. These include MOUs on Military Cooperation, Power, Cooperation in the field of Geology, Mining, and Mineral Processing, Oil and Gas and several others.
”Today, we also jointly launched the Nigeria-South Africa Youth Dialogue, another veritable tool for interaction among our youth with the aim of creating shared values and aspirations. Many of our youth, from Nigeria and South Africa, joined us virtually during the launch.”
Buhari thanked Ramaphosa for initiating the Youth Dialogue, noting that continuous interaction between the youth of the two countries will further break down barriers and suspicion among our people.
Headded that the inauguration of the Joint Ministerial Advisory Council on Industry, Trade and Investment, would enable the private sectors of the two largest economies in Africa to further promote economic cooperation and development.
”We appreciate that we need to do much more to achieve further integration of our two economies and take full advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
”Once again, I wish to thank my brother President and members of the South African delegation for their visit and their wonderful friendship, cooperation and solidarity, ” he said.
He described the imposition of the ban by some western countries as arbitrary, discriminatory, unscientific and unproductive in the long run.
”This is a global pandemic and overcoming it requires that we collaborate and work together as a collective.
”The resulting damage to this travel ban to the economies of the countries affected will be considerable and long-lasting.
”So I want to use this opportunity to tell the countries that have imposed this ban to reverse their decisions whether they are the northern more developed economies or in other parts of our continent or elsewhere,” he said.
Buhari and Ramaphosa during an earlier visit.