Officials of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria have said that the experts meeting of the 9th Session of Nigeria/South Africa Bi-National Commission is scheduled to hold from Thursday 26th to Friday 27th September, 2019 in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s, Rietondale, Pretoria, South Africa.
The Nigeria/South Africa Joint Commission was established in 1999 to promote relations between both countries and it was upgraded to Bi-National Commission (BNC) in 2001 to showcase the strategic nature of the relationship between the two very important countries. The Commission is about to be further upgraded to the Summit level on 3rd October, 2019.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria Ambassador Mustapha Sulaiman will lead the Nigerian Delegation as Co-Chair at the Senior Officials / Experts Meeting.
The Ministerial Meeting of the Bi-National Commission scheduled for Wednesday 2nd October, 2019 would be co-chaired by the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and his South African counterpart Dr. GNM Pandor. Also in attendance would be the Honourable Minister of Interior and Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment among others.
The preparatory meeting would focus on consolidation of the subsisting signed Agreements/MoUs, explore the possibility of strengthening relations in the area of Defence and Security, Political, Economic and Energy sector. Other areas of common interest include negotiations on pending agreements on matters of mutual cooperation, focal amongst which would be, Diplomatic Consultation and Early Warning System against Xenophobia, etc.
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to pay a State Visit to South Africa on the 3rd of October, 2019, at the invitation of the South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa.
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