Thami Mseleku, South Africa’s high commissioner to Nigeria, has called for a stronger collaboration between the two countries for the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
Mseleku said this on Tuesday at the grand finale of a stage play titled ‘Philomena’ held in Abuja.
The play was produced by Monalisa Chinda, Bimbo Mannuel, Zack Ineydo, and Rekiya Ibrahim-Atta, to advocate the course of the girl child in Africa.
The high commissioner said collaboration between South Africa and Nigeria would go a long way to facilitate the acceleration of development on the continent and would also enhance the implementation of AfCFTA.
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“At the moment the main issue for us in Africa is to make the Africa Free Trade agreement work in practice, not just on paper, and for that to happen, the leading economies of Africa should collaborate,” he said.
“They are trying. They have collaborated when it came to negotiations about the agreement itself, when it came to aspects of that agreement like standards and so on, they are working together, but we want to see that trickle down to real business.
“In other words, we want to see and ensure that [we] engage the two countries about where we could strengthen each other in order to make it an inclusive kind of agreement.
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“For example, in South Africa, we have a very strong and established car manufacturing industry; in Nigeria, we have the potential of reviving the textile industry, the clothing industry, or the fabric industry.
“The completeness of the BMW, which is produced in South Africa, the Toyota, which is produced in South Africa but the local cars that are here, they actually benefit from the engineering that we have established. And, through these German and other countries’ establishments of their manufacturing hubs in South Africa.
“So it’s those kinds of things that we are looking at.
“But let me emphasise, the most important thing in this is people-to-people relationships. If we make sure that our people actually interact independently of government, but are also directed by our governments, then we will go far.
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“Because in that way, they will actually begin to understand one another to cross-pollinate to learn from one another, and to live as Africans to realise that we are actually Africans.”
Mseleku also commended the producers for putting the event together to pass a message to the entire world about the girl child, adding that the film industry was also a tool to enhance diplomatic ties between the two countries.
On her part, Monalisa Chinda, executive producer of the play, said the focus of the play was mainly advocacy for the girl child, adding that with the needed support, her dream can be achieved.
Chinda also called for support from individuals and organisations to help the girl child achieve her dream, and that the government could not do it alone.
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