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Johannesburg - Nigeria's Vice President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday said trade
with South Africa was unfairly tilted in favour of the latter.
Jonathan spoke as the two largest economies in sub-Saharan
African kicked off celebrations to mark a decade of bilateral ties
under the aegis of the Nigeria/South Africa Bi-National Commission
(BNC).
He said concerns are that bilateral relations have yielded
enormous benefits for South African entrepreneurs with investment
in Nigeria while there were little or no opportunities for
Nigerians to do real business in the southern African country.
"Some Nigerians have questioned the very rationale for the BNC
if our relations and the benefits they confer are so skewed and if
South African authorities are engaged in alleged acts of
discrimination against Nigerian visitors, residents and businesses
in South Africa," he said.
Business people from the two countries opened talks on Friday to
seek ways to level the playing field.
"I strongly suspect that in the course of your deliberations,
there will be strong complaints from Nigerians who want something
done about the balance of business opportunities," he said.
South African Vice President Kgalema Motlanthe is expected to
address the forum on Saturday.
Official sources in South Africa say more than 100 South African
companies operate in Nigeria, a jump from only four before 1999.
The largest of them are in banking, telecommunications, retail and
entertainment business.
No figures of Nigerian outfits that have set up shop in South
African were readily available.
South Africa, one of the continent's largest oil consumers, gets
most of its crude requirements from the Middle East, yet Nigeria is
one of Africa's two top oil producers.
South Africa's deputy trade and industry minister Bongi Maria
Ntuli said that Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is her
country's second largest trading partner on the continent.
"As an open economy, we welcome new investment and collaborative
partnerships in key areas of opportunity - all uniquely poised to
deliver real competitive advantage," Ntuli said.
The suspected involvement of Nigerians in crimes in South Africa
- from internet scams to the production of fake South African
identity cards, passports, immigration and marriage documents - is
one of the sore points in relations between the two countries.
- Sapa-AFP