…tourism, trade, agro-processing top discussions.
Nosakhare Agbonigiarhuoyi
The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, received the South African Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Bobby J. Moroe, and the Embassy’s Vice Consul, Political, Ms. Busisiwe Dlamini, at Government House, Benin City, to consolidate discussions on intra-continental cooperation and investment opportunities in Edo State.
Welcoming his guests, Obaseki said there was a need for a win-win situation in the partnership between his State and South Africa as both governments explore areas of comparative advantage.
According to the Governor, the last few years have been trying for Nigeria and Africa as a whole, adding that this is the right time to begin renewing cooperation with partners within the continent.
Obaseki said: “We will always do business, but we must focus on the ground norms on which these businesses rest. It has to be a win-win; otherwise, it’s not just going to be sustained.
“If we are going to have hospitality or healthcare, what is the core infrastructure that we need to have in place? Power is one of them, connectivity is another. But more importantly, is the critical manpower required; the capacity to train our people, to build a certain level of discipline to be able to produce goods and services that are going to be internationally competitive.”
Furthermore, the Governor said: “We like the idea of the bilateral session that we are going to be having next year in April. But we want to identify key areas of win-win.
“One of the things we should quickly be looking at is how do we begin conversations with those states that have competitive advantages, whether it’s in dairy production, whether it’s in grains.”
On his part, the South African Ambassador, Dr. Bobby J. Moroe, expressed appreciation to the Governor for the reception and said that the purpose of the visit was to renew the friendship between the South African government and the people of Edo State.
He said: “We would like to identify areas of cooperation in commerce, trade, investment; but most importantly because Edo is also a State that hosts culture. We are also looking at areas of people-to-people cooperation.
“We talk about areas of youth development, projects that would try and assist us in creating social cohesion between the people of South Africa as well as the people of Edo State.
“One other area that we have identified is hospitality and tourism. We believe that because of the rich tapestry of Edo State, with its very strong culture, it can play a key role in disseminating information that might be very useful to the people of South Africa, assisting them in learning more about Edo State. We can also assist in providing any form of expertise in the tourism and hospitality industry of Edo State.”
In addition, he said: “There are other areas we are looking at such as agro-processing. Agro-processing is a very integral part of any nation that needs to grow its economy.
“A number of people are involved in subsistence farming but because of technology, lack of infrastructure and lack of training, you find that most of the agricultural produce goes to waste. Now we have alternative means of that.”
The Ambassador also informed the Governor of the South African Week, scheduled for 22nd to the 28th of April, 2023, to mark South Africa’s 29 years of Democracy, and her 29 years of bilateral cooperation with Nigeria.
He expressed his country’s desire to feature Edo State as the anchor State for the week-long event.
