By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday hosted his Tanzanian counterpart, President Samia Suluhu Hassan, on her first state visit to the country.
The state visit was in an aim to strengthen ties between the two African countries.
Ramaphosa said “the fraternal bonds between Tanzania and South Africa were well-known and were forged in the trenches of struggle.”
“There are many stories and historical accounts of the days when Tanzania gave shelter and comfort to our freedom fighters,” lamented Ramaphosa.
“I was also recently reminded of the extraordinary story of a group of nurses from South Africa who were smuggled out of the country in the early 1960s to work in Tanzania and to train nursing staff there.”
Known as the 20 Nightingales, they were received by President Julius Nyerere and ANC president Oliver Tambo, and were then placed in hospitals around the country to treat patients and to supervise local nurses.
Ramaphosa made these remarks while welcoming the Tanzanian President on Thursday at the Union Buildings.
The president said he believes that the State Visit will further strengthen the bilateral political and economic relations between the two countries and enhance the work of the Bi-National Commission (BNC).
“One of the key priorities of the BNC is to increase trade and investment so that we may promote economic development for the mutual benefit of our two countries.
“President Hassan and I will be joining the South Africa-Tanzania Business Forum, which brings together business people from our respective countries. Among the industries under discussion at the Business Forum are agriculture and agro-processing, oil and gas, mining and infrastructure development.
“We look forward to engaging the business sectors of our two countries as they are our partners in socio-economic development. We also had an opportunity to exchange views on regional, continental and global issues of mutual interest.”
To date, a total of 15 sectoral agreements and memorandums of understanding have been signed between the two countries.
Hassan, has urged more security cooperation and trade between the two countries.
“We have agreed to enhance our cooperation in the areas of trade and investment considering that South Africa is among the main sources of direct foreign investment in Tanzania,” said Hassan. She added that tourism and manufacturing are the leading sectors for investment.
Ramaphosa said trade volumes between Tanzania and South Africa continued to increase but could be improved further.
South Africa and Tanzania share common values and aspirations for stability and development of the continent and for strengthened cooperation among the countries of the Global South.