In order to support the development of electric vehicle (EV) batteries and the shift to green energy, President Ramaphosa has stated South Africa’s desire to collaborate with Nigeria in order to get vital minerals, particularly lithium.
President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to co-chair the 11th session of the Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission in Cape Town, South Africa, after arriving in France on Monday for a state visit, according to sources.
President Tinubu’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said Ramaphosa revealed this at the Nigeria-South Africa Business Roundtable on Tuesday.
He recommended making use of Nigeria’s vast lithium reserves as a key component of the EV industry’s development.
“We should leverage each other’s capabilities in minerals processing. We must work together to ensure critical minerals are beneficiated at source. We call on businesses to support and involve themselves in these initiatives,” he said.
In addition, President Ramaphosa declared that South Africa would “keenly” back Nigeria’s application to join the G20, calling it “a valued sister country.”
Before welcome President Tinubu to Tuynhuys to co-chair the 11th Bi-National Commission between Nigeria and South Africa, he made this pledge during the formal opening of South Africa’s G20 presidency in Cape Town.
Ramaphosa reaffirmed this stance both in the expanded meeting with officials from both countries at the BNC and in his private conversation with President Tinubu.
This comes after Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, requested that Nigeria join the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), the G20, and the BRICS.
The only African representatives in the G20 at the moment are South Africa and the African Union.
In order to strengthen Africa’s voice, which has long been ignored, he underlined that other important African countries ought to join the G20 as well.
Ramaphosa noted that until the African Union was established last year—a move his nation vigorously supported—South Africa had served as Africa’s only G20 representative.
“We have a voice, we have a presence, and we will be the biggest growth story in years to come.
“Our population is going to grow by leaps and bounds, and therefore, as a continent, we are going to be a big noise, and we want that big noise to be recognised in the form of countries that will be part of the G20 right now,” he said at the official launch of the G20 presidency.
