South Africa soon will open an embassy in Guinea and the two countries plan to scrap entry visas between them, their leaders said on Tuesday.
South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki and Guinea’s Lansana Conte said their countries had also agreed to boost trade and economic cooperation in the sectors of transport, mining, water and hydro electricity generation in Guinea.
Guinea is in the throes of a serious economic crisis, with social unrest attributed to government mismanagement and Conte’s ill-health.
Demonstrations against the cost of living have recently shaken both Guinea and Niger.
Mbeki arrived in Guinea on Monday from the African Union summit in Gambia. He left early on Tuesday for a two-day visit to Niger.
South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad last week said Mbeki’s visits to West Africa were in line with the continental giant’s ”priority to consolidate relations with all countries in Africa with a view to achieve the African developmental agenda”.
South Africa’s exports to Guinea amounted to R236 million-rand last year, while imports amounted to a mere R11-million.
In 2005, South Africa exported R36-million worth of goods to Niger, while imports amounted to R1,7-million rand.
”It is clear that economic relations in the region are not being sufficiently exploited,” Pahad said.
Mbeki’s stay in Guinea also included a visit to Guinea’s Keme Boureima [formerly Gallieni] military camp where several South African nationalists — among them his father Govan Mbeki, Oliver Tambo and ex-president Nelson Mandela — lived in the early 1960s. — AFP