It said Buhari’s government planned to act against the targeting of
South African assets in Nigeria and reaffirmed relations with South
Africa.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will visit South Africa next
month to reinforce the bonds between the two countries after a wave of
deadly riots and xenophobic attacks, the South African presidency said
on Saturday.
South Africa’s MTN Group and supermarket chain Shoprite have closed
all stores and service centres in Nigeria after their premises were
attacked.
Those attacks followed days of riots in South Africa that mainly
targeted foreign-owned, including Nigerian, businesses.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday at least 10
people had been killed, two of them foreign nationals, in violence
that began in Pretoria and spread to nearby Johannesburg.
Buhari will make a state visit to South Africa in October to help
develop responses to the challenges in both countries after Ramaphosa
held discussions with Nigeria’s special envoy, the presidency said in
a statement.
“The special envoy conveyed President Buhari’s concern at recent
events in South Africa, in the context of the strong and cordial
relations that characterize the interaction between the two
countries,” the presidency said.
It said Buhari’s government planned to act against the targeting of
South African assets in Nigeria and reaffirmed relations with South
Africa.
The violence in South Africa has stoked concerns about relations
between Africa’s two biggest economies. Nigeria said on Thursday it
would recall its top diplomat to Pretoria, Reuters report.