South Africa Seeks Arab Support In Promoting African Agenda

Saturday, November 23, 2013

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The South African government on Monday pledged to seek support from the Arab world in promoting the African Agenda.

South Africa’s relationship with the Arab states remains cordial with on-going engagements at various political and economic levels that are anchored by the strategic objective of strengthening South-South relations, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said.

The department made the statement prior to a visit by SA Minister in the Presidency Colin Chabane to Kuwait to represent South Africa at the third Africa-Arab Summit on Nov. 19-20.

The summit, to be held under the theme “Partners in Development and Investment,” will be hosted by Kuwait and co-organized with the African Union Commission and the League of Arab States.

At the summit, the heads of state and government of the African Union and the League of Arab States will undertake a mid-term review on the Joint Action Plan (2011-2016) adopted at the Second Africa-Arab Summit of 2010 and will further adopt the Kuwait Declaration.

“South Africa’s participation in the Summit is premised on the African Union’s strategic objective of ensuring that all global partnerships with Africa should support the African development priorities, while also strengthening Africa’s participation in global affairs as an equal partner,” DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.

“As such, South Africa will participate at this summit as a member of the African Union and the country believes that the summit comes at an opportune time when the African Continent is seized with redefining her destiny and role in the globalized world.”

According to 2011 statistics, trade between the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) and seven sub- Saharan African countries (South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia) amounted to near 16.7 billion U.S. dollars. The GCC-Africa two-way trade increased from approximately 2.7 billion dollars in 1990 to about 6.8 billion dollars in 2008.

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