South Africa's foreign minister calls Cameroon an important partner for South Africa

South Africa's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, is in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on an official working visit that began on Monday and will end on Wednesday.

Pandor spokesperson, Lunga Ngqengelele, said the minister's programme in Cameroon includes a planned bilateral meeting with her Cameroonian counterpart, Lejeune Mbella Mbella, on 4 April.

"We hope that Minister Pandor's visit to Cameroon will not only boost relations between the two countries but also provide an opportune moment to establish the Joint Co-operation Commission (JCC) as provided for in the General Co-operation Agreement signed in September 2006," said Ngqengelele.

Pandor will also pay a courtesy visit to Cameroon President Paul Biya.

Being in Yaoundé, the South African head of diplomacy will attend a business forum where she will speak alongside executives of South African businesses in Cameroon and Cameroonian businesses.

South Africa and Cameroon have maintained diplomatic relations since 1994. In the same year, parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of South Africa. These were the first elections in the country's history in which citizens of all races could participate, and hence also the first elections with universal adult suffrage. The elections were administered by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Cameroon opened a High Commission in South Africa in 1998 and South Africa opened a High Commission in Yaoundé in 2003, as reported by Pretoria News, a partner of TV BRICS.

"Cameroon is one of the countries in Africa identified as an important partner for South Africa. South Africa is interested in strengthening this relationship for the benefit of both countries and the African continent. Cameroon is the largest regional economy in Central Africa," said the agency.

The Republic of Cameroon is situated in the western region of Central Africa, just 200 kilometres from the equator.

Cameroon is rich in oil. Its extraction and refining is the dominant activity among the population. The high profits give the state a leading economic position among other African countries. Another long-standing handicraft that has survived to the present day is the cultivation and processing of cotton.

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