President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday urged the South African government to repay Nigeria’s benevolence to its companies by opening up its economy for Nigerian businessmen and women.
According to a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari said this in Pretoria, South Africa, during the inaugural meeting of the 9th Bi-National Commission of the two countries.
The Punch reports that during the apartheid era in South Africa, Nigeria was one of the foremost supporters of anti-apartheid movements, including the African National Congress.
Besides issuing passports to many South Africans seeking to travel abroad, Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed – Olusegun Obasanjo regime, nationalised the British Petroleum for supplying oil to the apartheid South Africa.
Also after independence, South Africans companies, including MTN and Shoprite, were given an unfettered access to the Nigerian market.
President Buhari said South African companies had enjoyed unfettered access to Nigerian market and protection with enabling laws, urging the former apartheid enclave to design policies that would ensure investments from Nigeria.
He said, “We are pleased to inform you that our government has made doing business in Nigeria easier through the Ease of Doing Business Initiative to open up more opportunities for investors in Nigeria.
“We call on the government of South Africa to also take steps to ease the doing of business in the country, and open up its market space for Nigerian businessmen and women. In this context, we are gratified that a Nigeria-South Africa Business Forum has been organised in the framework of this state visit.”
The President, who said Nigeria would continue to value its relationship with South Africa, which is the second largest economy in Africa, stated that 32 agreements and memoranda of understanding had been signed by both countries.
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