Nigeria seeks to deepen economic ties with South Africa.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in New York on Monday, hoping to advance economic cooperation between Africa’s two largest economies.

According to a joint statement, the two African leaders met ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, which begins this week.

“We can collaborate in a mutually beneficial way that enriches our populations,” Tinubu said, adding that both countries may work together to “deliver jobs” in the mining and telecommunications industries.

Tinubu has launched Nigeria’s most daring reforms in decades, eliminating a popular but costly petrol subsidy and removing foreign exchange trading restrictions. He has promised to revitalize an economy beleaguered by record debt, anemic growth, and double-digit inflation.

President Ramaphosa praised Tinubu’s “brave” economic changes and promised that South Africa would look into expanding its collaboration with Nigeria.

“We are two major economies on our continent, and it is important that we deepen economic ties, particularly in light of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement,” Ramaphosa added.
“We would love to see Nigeria and South Africa working closely together on a number of issues because whenever we join hands, we have made an impact globally through those joint positions,” he said.

Tinubu also encouraged South Africa to join Nigeria in calling for global financial institution reforms to assist Africa in combating rising poverty and economic difficulties.

“We must join hands and agree that International Finance Institutions must be reformated because Africa is no longer a place for economic scavenging, but rather a place with gifted people ready for investment and cooperation,” Tinubu stated.

Tinubu, who is attending his first United Nations General Assembly as President of Nigeria, is also slated to meet with US President Joe Biden and executives from Microsoft, Meta, and Exxon Mobil in New York to collect global financing for infrastructure development.