The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies says Nigeria and South Africa will play a critical role in building the value-added production capacity of the African continent. Minister Davies was speaking at the South Africa-Nigeria Business Forum that was hosted by the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) at the Fountains Hotel in Cape Town today. The forum was part of the State Visit to South Africa by the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The next phase of development in Africa is industrialisation which will be characterised by value-added production and for that we need to build industries in the continent. Nigeria and South Africa are committed to ensuring that this phase of industrialisation does get the required boost by working together to achieve regional integration in the continent,” said Davies.
He added that Nigeria and South Africa were involved in the tripartite negotiations amongst Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC) economic blocks.
“These negotiations are aimed at creating large regional markets across the eastern part of the continent. We are also strongly supportive of the African Union’s proposal to establish the continental free trade agreement which will embrace West Africa, as well as North Africa,” said Davies.
According to Davies, the two countries recognised that this kind of integration has to be complemented by infrastructure development such as maritime transport and air transport so that African countries could have the physical ability to trade and communicate with one another.
Davies also announced that South Africa and Nigeria were in the process of negotiating an automotive sector agreement which will see South Africa providing technical support and information to assist Nigeria in its effort to develop its automotive sector.
In his address, the Nigerian Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr Olusegun Aganga urged the South African and Nigerian businesspeople attending the forum to explore the countless opportunities that the continent’s two biggest economies are providing, to further boost economic growth and increase trade between these countries.
Within this context, priority areas will be identified to enhance the envisaged industrialisation programme.
Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe, Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 079 492 1774
E-mail: MSMedupe@thedti.gov.za
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