Ramaphosa’s Visit Was Successful Despite Omicron Scare, Says Buhari 

President Muhammadu has described the visit of his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, as successful despite the scare of the new COVID-19 omicron variant.

Buhari made the comment at a joint press conference with Ramaphosa at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday.

The President equally expressed optimism that the establishment of the Youth Dialogue initiative would promote peace-building and development that would enable both countries to jointly combat youth restiveness.

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He further noted that with a combined population of 262 million, out of which 95 million are youths, the dialogue would open up areas of collaboration in science and technology, energy demands, cyber security, agriculture, technology among others.

On his part, the South African leader thanked the Nigerian government for showing solidarity with his country, calling for the lifting of the travel ban imposed on his nation and others over the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

According to him, the move, if not reversed, will severely affect the countries’ economies, describing it as discriminatory.

He adds that both countries have signed 32 agreements which include a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of youth development and agreement on audiovisual cooperation, and a programme of cooperation on arts and culture, expected to boost the film production industries in both countries.