South Africa and Madagascar: a strategic partnership according to the new Ambassador
The President of the Republic Marc Ravalomanana has received HE Mr. Mokgethi Samuel MONAISA, who came and hand in the letters of accreditation to the President accrediting him officially as Ambassadeur of South Africa with residence in Antananarivo, this, in the presence of the Foreign Minister Marcel Ranjeva, on Thursday February 07, 2008 at the Palace of State in Iavoloha.
Being the second South African ambassadorto the Great island, Mr. Monaisa sees in our country a strategic partner, with whom South Africa intends to maintain relations of co-operation and collaboration in several key sectors such as forestry, commerce and tourist; added to this the agricultural sector which, according to Mr. Ambassador, will receive a considerable support from South Africa.
More particularly, the new ambassado's mission in Madagascar is, not only to apply the draft-agreements concluded previously, but also to reinforce economic and bilateral relations between the two countries through the negotiations of other protocols to come.
Concerning the Summit of 2009, Mr. Monaisa stressed that South Africa will give right away logistic support, in accordance with discussions already started between the President of the Republic of Madagascar and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.
The Foreign Minister, Marcel Ranjeva, for his part, estimates that this nomination is "a bright demonstration of the health of the co-operation between Madagascar and South Africa". The latter being in its eyes an "engine" within the SADC, this South African accreditation the day before the visit of the President of the SADC to the country shows well that "Madagascar has its place and its role in this community". Indeed, the President of the SADC and President of Zambia will carry out a 3 day- official visit in Madagascar as from February 11, 2009.
A qualified lawyer, Mr. Monaisa has an extensive experience as diplomate. Before being deployed to Madagascar, he was the director for the Central Africa area at the department of Foreign Affairs in Pretoria, and was already ambassador of South Africa in several African countries, said the Republic of Central Africa, Cameroun, Sao Tome and Principe, equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Chad.
(Source: The Secretariat of Communication )
