Joint Communiqué on the 6th Session of the South Africa - Nigeria Bi-National Commission held in Durban, South Africa from 9 - 10 September 2004

The 6th Session of the Bi-National Commission between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was held in Durban, South Africa from 9 to 10 September 2004. The South African delegation was led by His Excellency Jacob Zuma, the Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, while His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, led the Nigerian delegation.

Both parties noted the importance of this session held on the eve of the fifth year anniversary of the existence of the Bi-National Commission.

During the session, which was preceded by meetings from 6 - 8 September 2004 of experts within the sectors of co-operation covered by the Commission, bilateral consultations were held within the context of the Commission's six working groups, i.e.:

i. Foreign Affairs and Co-operation
ii. Defence
iii. Immigration, Justice and Anti-Crime
iv. Public Enterprises and Infrastructure
v. Trade, Industry and Finance
vi. Social and Technical
vii. Minerals and Energy
viii. Agriculture, Water Resources and the Environment

The session provided the delegations of the two countries another opportunity to assess the progress made within these working groups since the 5th Session of the Commission held in Lagos, Nigeria, in December 2003. The session also served to explore and agree on actions to promote the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) within the various sectors of bilateral co-operation.

The two delegations expressed their satisfaction with the quality of the relations of friendship, solidarity and co-operation that exist between the two countries. They also expressed appreciation for the efforts aimed at strengthening the political and economic relations between South Africa and Nigeria.

The Foreign Affairs and Co-operation Working Group reviewed global developments with an emphasis on Africa focussing specifically on the operationalisation of the AU and its organisations, implementation of NEPAD and conflict resolutions.

The group noted that the budget of the AU was inadequate to deal with all the developmental challenges facing the continent and agreed on the importance of the implementation of the AU resolution calling for the meeting of finance experts to find innovative ways of raising money. It was further agreed that international partners should be persuaded to match their political commitments to support the implementation of NEPAD with the scaling up of resources to ensure the acceleration of implementation. African countries should likewise be urged to support their own institutions.

The South African side also briefed the meeting on developments concerning the hosting of the Pan-African Parliament, including the three-phase approach to the development of a permanent structure for the institution.

The group resolved to urge all AU member states that had not yet joined the African Peer Review Mechanism to do so. The meeting welcomed the developments regarding the operationalisation of the Peace and Security Council, with specific reference to the adoption of the framework for the establishment of the African Standby Force, Early Warning Mechanism and the Panel of the Wise.

The meeting noted the adoption of the Statutes of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) by the July 24 session of the Assembly and agreed to ensure the setting up of regional and national chapters of ECOSOCC in their respective regions and countries.

The meeting further welcomed the election in July 2004 of President Olusegun Obasanjo as Chairperson of the African Union. It agreed that South Africa and Nigeria should facilitate the convening of the second Africa-Europe Summit under the aegis of the Africa-Euro process as contained in the Cairo Declaration.

The meeting agreed on the need to harmonise continental regional economic communities along the same lines as the geographical regions of the AU. The Special Implementation Committee (SIC) should discuss this issue and present recommendations.

On the United Nations system, the meeting stressed the need to ensure that future reform of the UN system adequately bridges the gap between the international security agenda and the international development agenda.

With regard to issues relating to the proposed reform of the UN Security Council, both delegations resolved to encourage further discussions on the subject within the AU.

Both countries also noted the need to ensure that the global dialogue on the progress being made to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), with the first comprehensive review scheduled by the UN in 2005, be complemented by, rather than eclipsed by, the ongoing debate around UN reform issues. It was agreed that the permanent representatives of the two countries at the UN in New York and the AU in Addis Ababa should be requested to attend the meetings of the BNC.

With reference to the proposed review of NEPAD activities, the meeting recommended that a review of the implementation of the MDGs be undertaken concurrently.

Both sides applauded the proposed "roadmap" released by the Development Committee of the IMF and World Bank, chaired by the South African Minister of Finance which seeks ways to further increase the voice and the participation of developing countries in the operations of these institutions.

On the issues of the South, the meeting noted the opportunities that would be presented by the forthcoming 2nd South Summit, to be held during 2005, for evaluating the status of South-South co-operation.
The two delegations further welcomed the recent agreement in Geneva on a framework for agricultural negotiations in the WTO, which took place during the Nigerian Chairmanship of the African Group. In this regard they expressed the hope that this would open the way for meaningful progress to be made in achieving the objectives of the Doha Development Agenda.

The two delegations expressed appreciation for trade initiatives which had, in some way, provided market access and other trade-related benefits to African countries, for example, the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) of the US. The meeting stressed however, that over the long-term, the ultimate objective remains a rules-based international trading system that promotes the development agenda that was agreed to in Doha.

Both delegations pledged to continue to support efforts within the framework of the United Nations, as well as regional and other multilateral organisations, to combat terrorism. The fight against terrorism should not be allowed to overshadow the international development agenda that seeks to combat poverty and underdevelopment. They also condemned recent incidents of global terrorism, for example, in the Russian Federation and in Iraq, where innocent civilians have been targeted.

Both delegations further reviewed the status of conflict situations on the African continent. These included the situation in Zimbabwe, Côte d'Ivoire and Sudan. Both sides noted the urgent need for progress in resolving these situations. In terms of post conflict reconstruction and development, both sides noted the significant progress made in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Western Sahara, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Sao Tomé and Principe and welcomed this as a sign of significant progress for the continent.

The meeting noted the devastation that was being caused by locusts in a number of States in West and North Africa and welcomed the regional initiative to mobilise Humanitarian support from appropriate agencies, such as the FAO and the WFP.

Both delegations agreed on the need to evaluate the implementation of the decisions made and to set time frames for the implementation of such decisions.

Following the presentation by Nigeria's Directorate of Technical Co-operation in Africa and the information materials that were made available to the South African delegation regarding programmes of the Directorate, it was agreed that the South African government would study the documentation received and provide feedback at the next session in 2005.

The Defence Committee reviewed the decisions taken at the previous meeting in Lagos. Acknowledgement was made between the two countries that very little substantive progress was made in the past year and this was viewed in a serious light. Thus the Committee firmly committed itself to start on a totally new footing, which entailed the prioritisation of objectives that are realistically achievable.

Of importance was the agreement that co-operation in matters related to Peace Support Operations was among the top priorities. This is in the context of the obligations and responsibilities of both defence forces towards the African Union, particularly the operationalisation of the African Standby Force (ASF). Furthermore, the challenges faced by our armed forces in combating HIV-Aids and other diseases was also emphasised and identified as a top priority. An urgent need was also identified for the defence industries of both South Africa and Nigeria to begin in earnest to interact more regularly and initiate opportunities in order to be exposed to each other's capabilities.

The Sub-Committee on Immigration, Justice and Anti Crime met during the Commission, focusing on aspects relating to immigration and law enforcement issues. Both sides noted that the completion of Nigeria's constitutional compliance in implementing the Immigration Act, signed in 2002. The meeting afforded both sides an opportunity to review areas of co-operation in an effort to improve standards of service delivery. Law enforcement officials examined further ways and means of increasing their levels of co-operation.

The BNC observed with satisfaction, the positive co-operation that had been achieved in the areas of aviation, postal services, public enterprises and telecommunications, through the granting of an additional frequency by Nigeria to South African Airways. The meeting noted the advanced stage reached on the Expedited Mail Services Agreement, the Public Enterprises staff exchange programme scheduled to commence in October 2004, as well as the resuscitation of the African Privatisation Network (APN) and the identified areas of co-operation on the Value Added Services scheme between Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL) and arivia.kom of South Africa.

During the 6th session, the technical experts on the Trade, Industry and Finance Working Group met and deliberated on matters of mutual benefit to the two countries.

Discussions concentrated on policy issues and initiatives of both countries with regard to the New Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) of Nigeria and the policy objective of South Africa to focus on the strengthening and the development of the 2nd Economy, which highlight policy objectives such as growth, employment and equity. The striking similarities in the areas of job creation, rural development, poverty alleviation, economic growth and improvement of the quality of living of the rural poor were noted by both delegations.

In the Social and Technical Group meeting, wide ranging discussions were held in the areas of science and technology, education, culture, sport and recreation, communication and information, health and tourism. Discussions in this regard examined ways and means of fostering closer bilateral co-operation between the respective implementing agencies, through co-operative arrangements in the listed fields geared towards economic and social development of the continent.

The Mineral and Energy Working Group deliberations focused on three key areas, namely the oil and gas sector, electricity and power generation and geology, mining and mineral beneficiation. Specific areas of technical co-operation were identified for further development on a bilateral basis, while significant attention was given to the ongoing relationship between ESKOM and NEPA.

The discussions of the Working Group on Agriculture focused on revising the Agreement on Agriculture, reviewing progress made on the action plan and determining concrete implementation timeframes. Both sides expressed their desire to accelerate implementation of the agreed action plan within the agreed timeframes, given the important role agriculture plays in SA and Nigeria. Arising out of the desire to increase agricultural trade between the two countries, the priority crops of interest for export on both sides were determined. A commitment was made to complete the analysis of the necessary phytosanitary information for these crops by the end of 2004. Given the two countries strength in agricultural research, it was also agreed to promote research collaboration between the respective research institutes. Capacity building opportunities on both sides were identified in a range of areas including pest surveillance and pest risk analysis, extension, rural development, ostrich production, rural transport and infrastructure development.

Given the critical role of agriculture and rural development in addressing food security and eradicating poverty on the continent, the two sides agreed to co-operate bilaterally and within regional and sub-regional bodies on concrete programmes. It was also agreed that as founding members of NEPAD, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the SA Department of Agriculture would champion the implementation of the NEPAD agriculture sector plan, the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP).

Both countries agreed to exchange information and technical expertise in pollution and waste management integrated coastal zone management, protection and conservation of natural and marine resources, environmental awareness and education. Specific focus will be placed on capacity building, environmental management and regulatory frameworks, monitoring, compliance and enforcement. It was agreed to co-operate and exchange views on environmental issues within the multilateral arena.

In conclusion, H.E. Vice President Abubakar thanked H.E. Deputy President Zuma for the kind hospitality extended to himself and his delegation in Durban and also extended an invitation to H.E. Deputy President Zuma to undertake a visit to Nigeria in 2005 for the 7th Session of the South Africa - Nigeria Bi-National Commission.

ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ON BEHALF OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN AND NIGERIAN DELEGATIONS TO THE 6TH SESSION OF THE BI-NATIONAL COMMISSION, DURBAN, 10 SEPTEMBER 2004.