Increased collaboration between Nigeria and South Africa will strengthen African development – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that improved relations between Africa’s 2 largest economies will boost development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The President disclosed this on Friday after he received Gwede Mantashe, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy in State House, Abuja.

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Mantashe, who is also the Chairman of the African National Congress (ANC) was in the State House, Abuja on Friday as a special envoy of his country.

President Buhari said the last time he was in South Africa, it was to resolve the xenophobic riots with President Cyril Ramaphosa, which saw Nigerians in South Africa being attacked.

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“There was this ‘small problem’ between our countries. I went there and we resolved it,” Buhari said.

Buhari also disclosed that he had directed Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, to work with his South African counterpart on the requests he brought and report back to him for action.

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Gwede Mantashe presented Buhari with a letter from the South African President, adding that Nigeria’s relationship with South Africa would be a catalyst to African development in the future.

“This relationship will determine the future of Africa,” Mantashe said.

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What you should know 

• The 2019 Xenophobic riots in South Africa left at least twelve people dead, thousands displaced, and businesses looted during the violence that began in late August 2019.
• Nairametrics reported that the xenophobic inspired attacks in September 2019 saw 14 Nigerian malls with Shoprite as the anchor tenant looted and damaged. This worsened sales growth and led to a 59% reduction in weekly customer visits, according to their 2019 results presentation.
• Two months after the protests, customer visits were still 14% lower than typical.

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