The scenes last week at the arrival lounge of the Murtala Muhammed International airport, Ikeja, Lagos was sombre. It witnessed the arrival of the second batch of 314 Nigeria returnees from South Africa who are victims of xenophobic violence in that country. Those who relived their harrowing experiences spoke from the innermost of broken hearts. But they were happy to be back home, irrespective of an uncertain future ahead. Although South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has tendered unreserved apology to the Nigerian government over the violence against Nigerians in South Africa in the recent wave of horrific and agonizing Xenophobic which swept through that country, the apology may have come too little too late. Certainly, the dust raised by the attacks are yet to settle. The counting of losses has only just begun. For many Nigerians in South Africa, the loss is heartrending and too much to bear. Recounting his own loss, Mr. Kennedy Orji, a well-known car dealership said, “I’m lost for words and aggrieved not only because of the financial loss, but because my own black brothers and sisters did this cruel deed to me”. He lost no fewer than 30 cars to the irate mob that burnt the cars.
It is believed that the failure of the South Africa government to respond swiftly to stop the attacks, looting and destruction of property belonging to foreign nationals, and the subsequent reprisal attacks on South Africa’s interests in some countries worsened an already bad situation, all of which is not in Africa’s interest.
Perhaps among the big losers is the newly established African Continental Free Trade Agreement(AfCFTA) which came into force on May 30, 2019. With a market size valued at over $3.3trn, that trade deal may have come under threat as a result of the xenophobic attacks. This was evident in the absence of many African countries in the recent World Economic Forum(WEF) held in Cape Town, South Africa, where many speakers denounced the attacks and the unquantifiable losses.
For instance, the African Development Bank(AfDB) noted the destruction of property and other businesses belonging to foreign nationals in South Africa would inevitably affect the huge market in Africa. Until the xenophobic attacks, Africa had the largest free trade zone since the World Trade Organisation(WTO) was established. With a population of over one billion people and estimated N3trn in Gross Domestic Product(GDP), consumer spending in Africa is projected to rise from $680bn by 2030.
We believe that with the madness in South Africa, that massive business opportunity has been greatly undermined as the attacks may negatively impact the implementation of AfCFTA and diminished Africa’s socioeconomic and political integration which is direly needed to fight poverty on the continent. Also, with estimated 422 million people in Africa who currently live below poverty line. Experts have expressed concern that in the wake of the attacks, that gap may long to be closed.
Besides this, the attack is said to have affected the bilateral trade relations between Nigeria and South Africa officially put at $60bn. As things stand now, foreign trade figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that in the first quarter(Q1) of 2019, South Africa was reported to be one of Nigeria’s top five export destinations, having received goods valued at over N325bn or 7.2 percent within the period. South Africa’s economy has equally recorded huge losses in revenue as a result of the attacks on foreign nationals. Certainly, this will impact on South Africa’s relations with the continent because South Africa has many bilateral agreements in Africa with local businesses, well-estsblished in several countries. The economic impact may not necessarily be immediate as bilateral and multilateral ties are negotiated for several months.
Besides, attracting investment from Africa and internationally will equally be a challenge for the South African government, because nobody wants to invest in an unpredictable country. The same can be said about tourism where South Africa harvests a lot of revenue. In Nigeria, for instance, South Africa’s interests include telecommunication(MTN), Satelite television(Multichoice), Supermarkets(Shoprite) and banking,among other businesses.
With President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned visit to South Africa early next month, it is important that the issue of compensation and restitution to the victims of the attacks, many of them Nigerians, should be made part of the discussion during the October 3 state visit. That visit should serve as a forum to address all issues of mutual concern about South Africa and Nigeria which have been seriously damaged by the violent attacks on Nigerians living in that country. However, it is heartening that the South Africa’s special envoy dispatched to Nigeria by President Ramaphosa, Jeff Radebe, has raised a vista of hope that the issue of compensation to victims of the attacks may be on the table. We believe this must be looked into as a step towards normalising relation between the two frontline African countries. Nothing should be off limits during the planned meeting next month.
It is also important for governments of both countries, Nigeria and South Africa, to draw useful lessons from the ugly incidence in South Africa and see it as an opportunity to address socioeconomic challenges facing their respective countries. These include the respective governments inability to evolve sustained economic growth, especially the increasing level of unemployment and poverty, particularly within the swelling youth population, resulting in criminality. In both countries, poverty and unemployment have become a time-bomb.
The accumulated effect is that Nigerians back in the country may face tougher times ahead unless the government assist them to settle. It is in this regard that we commend the management of Air Peace, especially its Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allen Onyeama, who has demonstrated exemplary patriotism by putting his aircraft at the disposal of returnees, free of charge. We also commend the Diaspora Commission for its arrangement with the Bank of Industry(BoI) for soft loans for the returnees to enable them set up small businesses soon. All in all, our government needs reminding that many of our nationals in South Africa came to sojourn in that ‘rainbow’ country mainly because of unfavourable political and socioeconomic conditions in Nigeria. Government should learn these hard lessons and put them to practical use in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes.