South African President, Jacob Zuma, has called for unity between Nigeria and South Africa to drive economic growth in Africa.
Zuma, who made the call while addressing a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday in Abuja, said that both countries must assume their roles as big brothers in Africa to advance growth of the continent.
He said that collaborations in the areas of economic diversification, electricity generation and supply, agriculture and agro-processing, tourism development, mining, banking, infrastructure development, aviation, manufacturing and the automotive sectors should be encouraged.
“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.
“In doing this, 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.
“The current global economic climate, as the previous global economic crisis, has exposed the vulnerability of our economies and currencies and thus calls for concerted efforts toward South-South and intra-Africa cooperation.
“Economic cooperation between our two countries can therefore serve as 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,” he said.
On Nigeria’s epileptic power supply, Zuma offered to assist the country with the experience of South Africa in tackling the challenges.
He said that Nigeria and South Africa should lead other African countries in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to him, both countries must be at the fore front of the struggle because we are 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.
In his remarks, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara said that Zuma’s visit would reinforce the brotherhood and collaboration between the two countries.
While acknowledging the role Nigeria played as a front-liner in the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, Dogara stressed that the need for high level commitment in bilateral relations between both countries.
He expressed optimism that the good relationship between the leaders of both countries would translate to good relations between their citizens.
“It is only then that both countries can speak on the true integration of our people in the interest of our continent,’’ he said.
The South African President was accompanied to the National Assembly by his host, President Muhammadu Buhari.
Meanwhile, Zuma has called for reform of United Nations Security Council and other UN institutions and international bodies to reflect the need of Africa.
He said that 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.
“Both countries share a common vision on issues of political integration in Africa and on the need for a sustainable conflict resolution mechanism in Africa that is primarily driven by Africans.
“At the global sphere, 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 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,” he said.
Zuma said that South Africa, which had been re-elected into the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, would support Nigeria in actualising the goals of the AU Peace and Security Council.
He said that both countries must unite and work together on the issues of peace and security in the continent.
“This should include the bringing into operation of the standby forces; we commit ourselves to playing our part to achieve this.
“Let the citizens of Africa march together to defeat all those forces that bring harm and suffering.
“Let the citizens of the continent march together towards a brighter future, a future filled with prosperity and happiness.
“South Africa and Nigeria, acting together in unity, must play a key role towards the achievement of these goals,’’ he said.
He stressed that creating a stable and peaceful environment in Africa was a prerequisite to attracting more foreign direct investment to develop African economies.
Zuma added that 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.
