Fikile Mbalula | West Africa connectivity offers new transport opportunities
When President Cyril Ramaphosa undertook a state visit to West Africa with a clear objective of enhancing economic and other relations, transport was one of the sectors identified as being able to advance cooperation.
Ramaphosa’s state visit took place at a time when the world is reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, further compounded by the identification of a new variant that has put us at odds with western countries that did not miss a heartbeat in shutting their borders to South Africa and other countries in southern Africa.Our crime was to be the first to discover the Omicron variant owing to our scientific prowess in genome sequencing and our ability to detect new variants quicker.
The agreement is key to promoting trade and tourism, and to improving connectivity between South Africa and Ivory Coast, and within the continent. It will further provide the two countries with an opportunity to explore and exchange cultural relations. It should not elude us that transport enables tourism and trade, making the role of the sector central to economic activity. Lockdowns are the antithesis of economic growth. The aviation sector bore the brunt of the devastating impact of the pandemic and is desperate for recovery.
In Ghana, I signed a memorandum of understanding with my counterpart, which covers a broad range of areas of cooperation across all modes of transport. These not only relate to government-to-government cooperation and sharing of expertise, but include actively mobilising potential investors in both countries to invest in transport projects. This extends to maximising private sector participation in projects through public-private partnership, as well as knowledge and technology transfer.
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