MICHAEL METELITS, Johannesburg | Thursday 1.30pm.
JUST one and a half months after the Libyan sanctions were suspended following the handover of the Lockerbie bombing suspects, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin will lead a ministerial delegation to the mineral rich country in pursuit of closer economic ties.
Both state oil company Soekor and private oil exploration company Energy Africa have expressed interest in exploiting Libya’s untapped reserves. Oil exports account for 95% of Libya’s foreign earnings.
The visit, including Mineral and Energy Affairs Minister Penuell Maduna, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad and a high-level business group, will head for Libya next week. The business group will include representatives from the mining, agricultural equipment, construction, banking, and telecommunications sectors, among others.
South Africa’s push into Libyan markets is a direct result of the resolution in the Lockerbie bombing case brokered by President Nelson Mandela. “The handover of the two suspects in the Lockerbie case has created favourable conditions for Libya’s full reintegration into the international community which opens up many opportunities for the South African business community”, Deputy Foreign Minister Pahad said in Pretoria on Thursday.
Pahad emphasised that South Africa is committed to forging deeper political and economic relations with the countries of the Maghreb region of North Africa, with a combined population of 70-million.
Pahad will also use the opportunity to discuss the ongoing negotiations aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Of particular interest will be the recent meetings which took place in Libya which included the participation of Presidents Kabila of the DRC, Kagame of Rwanda and Museveni of Uganda, which are seen as important contributions to the SADC efforts aimed at bringing about peace in the DRC.