Like most countries, South Africa shelves any geopolitical differences it might have with Saudi Arabia to pursue stronger relations with the wealthy, oil-rich Gulf State because of the large economic opportunities it offers.
The Saudis put a great deal of effort into the visit, which convinced South Africa that Riyadh was equally committed to growing relations, said Stavros Nicolaou, group senior executive, strategic trade, at Aspen Pharma Group, who has just been appointed as head of the newly revived South Africa-Saudi Arabia Business Council.the big advantage of commerce with Saudi Arabia was that so much of its economy was complementary to South Africa’s, rather than competitive.
From a purely political perspective, the warmer relations with Saudi Arabia might seem surprising. South Africa’s ruling ANC has historically been wary of Saudi Arabia, regarding it as an ally of the US in the Gulf – and also as a major Middle East rival of Iran, an important ANC ally.But an official points out that “South Africa sees Saudi Arabia as a strategic partner in the region, given its increasingly important role as an emerging regional power.
Abba Omar, who was South Africa’s ambassador in the Gulf for 10 years, believes Ramaphosa’s Saudi Arabian initiative in fact represents continuity rather than change.
Growth with stage 5 rolling blackouts with to real plan in place to improve the situation?
Who in their right mind will want to do business with Demon Cyryl Ramaphosa who is a spineless failure and a thief and also 'a tsotsi from Chiawelo ' . This demon spews more lies than anyone else in Mzanzi.
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