South Africa and Nigeria have agreed on the need to deepen economic cooperation between Africa’s two biggest economies‚ President Jacob Zuma said in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Wednesday. “In this regard‚ we have agreed to formalise the South Africa-Nigeria Business Council‚ as it is an important instrument that will assist us in managing and advancing the economic relations between the two countries.“South Africa is optimistic about the further growth of economic ties between the two countries‚” Zuma‚ who is on a state visit to Africa’s most populous country‚ said.Addressing a meeting of the South Africa-Nigeria Business Council‚ he added that Nigeria had opened up its economy to South African companies in various sectors such as engineering‚ telecommunications‚ construction‚ aviation‚ media‚ hospitality‚ banking‚ hospitality‚ entertainment‚ property‚ retail‚ and oil and gas exploration services.“We welcome this significant development. We would like to see the numbers of Nigerian investments in South Africa also increasing‚ as we promote two way trade between these two nations.” Zuma said very productive discussions had been held between the two governments on Tuesday.“The relations between the two countries are managed through a Binational Commission. We have taken an important decision to elevate the Commission to head of state level.“The South Africa-Nigeria Binational Commission will thus be chaired by President Buhari and myself and we will take full responsibility for managing relations between the two leading economies on the African continent.“In our discussions with President Buhari yesterday we noted with satisfaction the ever growing cooperation in many sectors including trade and investment; defence and security; immigration matters; energy; mineral resources‚ to mention but a few.”