Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA
Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari arrived in South Africa on Wednesday for a state visit after
an outburst of xenophobic violence in and around Johannesburg stirred tensions
between Africa's leading economic powerhouses.
Buhari and President Cyril
Ramaphosa will meet Thursday to discuss bolstering trade ties
and political cooperation as both struggle to kickstart their stuttering
economies.
But the
recent violence in the country targeting foreigners -- including Nigerians --
threatens to dominate the talks.
Buhari was
met by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor after
his arrival at the Waterkloof military base in Pretoria.
The three-day state
visit, the first by a Nigerian leader since 2013, was planned before mobs
descended on foreign-owned properties in and around Johannesburg in early
September.
The violence
-- in which at least 12 people were killed -- sparked fury in Nigeria and saw
hundreds of migrant workers repatriated to the country.
Some South African businesses
in Nigeria were forced to close shop
temporarily after they were targeted by revenge attacks.
The two
governments dispatched special envoys to each other's capitals as Pretoria
offered "sincere apologies" in a bid to calm the anger.
The
presidency in Abuja said Buhari would use the state visit to discuss the
"welfare of Nigerians, and find common grounds for building harmonious
relations with their hosts".
He will hold
a "town hall meeting" with Nigerians living in South Africa to listen
to their experiences and show the government is working to protect them.
Buhari is
expected to urge Ramaphosa to pay reparations for the Nigerians affected by the
violence but the government looks set to reject those demands.
The presidency did not mention the xenophobic violence at
all in its announcement of the visit.
It instead
focused squarely on attempts to bolster trade and business as Africa's two
largest economies both look to improve on tepid growth.
The leaders
will attend a business forum and chair a meeting of the South Africa-Nigeria
Bi-National Commission designed to boost cooperation between the two countries.
The
relationship hit a high in the early 2000s when former presidents Thabo Mbeki
and Olusegun Obasanjo worked together to take a leading role in continental
politics.
Since then a
string of legal disputes between MTN and the Nigerian authorities has clouded
ties.
The telecoms
firm has now resolved most of the long-running wrangles and in May floated its
shares on the stock exchange in the West African country.
Buhari, who
won a second term in February, is looking to diversify Nigeria's economy away
from oil and South Africa could prove a key partner in boosting its
agricultural and mining sectors.
But, despite
signing up to a landmark African free trade agreement in July, he has been
making protectionist moves by ordering increased restrictions on food imports
and blocking the flow of goods from neighbouring Benin and Niger.
Analysts
said that despite incentives to improve ties, Buhari's visit appears unlikely
to radically bolster relations between the two countries.
"What
we are seeing in the relationship is years of bad management on both
sides," said Cheta Nwanze, head of research at Nigeria's SBM Intelligence.
"That
won't change dramatically because of this visit -- if it is to improve then it
needs sustained commitment at the highest levels." - News24
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