Pretoria – The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Gentiloni recently received the Foreign Minister of South Africa Maite Nkoana-Mashabane in the context of strengthening bilateral relations with South Africa. “South Africa is an example of the renaissance taking place in the African continent and a model of peaceful transition towards an inclusive democracy.” With these words, Minister Gentiloni welcomed his counterpart. As for the economic relations between the two countries, Gentiloni said that “South Africa is one of our major trading partners on the continent, and the potential of bilateral economic and trade cooperation is still very large. This potential can be grasped with a series of business-to-business missions in Italy and South Africa.” Gentiloni also expressed satisfaction for the excellent state of cultural and inter-university cooperation. The talks, in addition to bilateral relations, also discussed the main crises in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, the Libyan crisis, and the theme of migration flows. (9Colonne)
