President Bola Tinubu has concluded his visit to South Africa on Thursday, meeting with newly inaugurated President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss strengthening economic and trade ties between the two regional powers.
President Tinubu travelled to South Africa for Ramaphosa’s inauguration.
Tinubu had attended Ramaphosa’s inauguration ceremony in Pretoria on Wednesday before the two leaders sat down for bilateral talks on Thursday.
“Our discussions focused on strengthening cooperation and enhancing the economic ties between Nigeria and South Africa,” Tinubu said after the meeting.
He praised Ramaphosa’s “warm welcome and dedication to mutual respect and cooperation,” which the Nigerian leader said “reflect the depth of our relationship.”
The two presidents pledged to work together on developing robust trade and economic strategies to address challenges facing their nations.
President Tinubu expressed optimism that closer collaboration could “lead our nations towards increased prosperity and unity.”
Ramaphosa was re-elected as the country’s president following a historic coalition deal between the governing African National Congress (ANC) and opposition parties.
The new government comprises Ramaphosa’s ANC, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which is the main opposition, and other smaller parties.
The ANC lost its controlling majority in last month’s election after ruling for 30 years since the end of apartheid.
On Wednesday, a viral video of Ramaphosa purportedly ignoring Tinubu at the inauguration caused a stir on social media.
The presidency said the video was taken out of context.
Tinubu and Ramaphosa last met in New York at the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2023.
At the time, the Nigerian leader had sought for a deepening of economic ties between both countries.