My main mission in South Africa – Tinubu

By Adeola Atanda

 

Nigerian leader, Bola Tinubu, has said he is in South Africa to forge greater economic ties, focusing on trade and investment, political consultations, consular and migration matters. Other issues before President Tinubu he says includes defence and security cooperation, banking, energy, manufacturing, and the social sector.

President Tinubu arrived at Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday, where he will be participating in the 11th session of the Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission. According to him, the bilateral talks marks 25 years anniversary of Nigerian-South African relations.

The Nigerian President says he hopes to “strengthen ties” with the country.

“I look forward to leading discussions at the Bi-National Commission session with President Cyril Ramaphosa”, Tinubu tweeted.

Cornet News reports that President Tinubu had just concluded a state visit to France, where he equally signed a number of bilateral agreements, part of which saw two big Nigerian banks – Zenith Bank, and United Bank for Africa – sign agreements with the French authorities on their setting up branches in the country.

In South Africa, President Tinubu will be pushing for the country’s backing for Nigeria to join the BRICS. The Brics is an intergovernmental organization that fosters investment opportunities among its members, and its members are Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa, Iran, and Egypt. Otehrs are the United Arabs Emirates, China, and Ehtiopia.

Similarly, Nigeria is seeking South Africa’s support to join another intergovernmental forum, the G20. President Tinubu, recently, had attended the G20 Summit in Brazil, where he indicated Nigeria’s interest in becoming a member of the association comprising 19 countries, the European Union, and the African Union. According to Wikipedia, the forum focuses on major global economy issues.