South Africa and Nigeria, Best of 'Frenemies'

Our diplomats shake hands and smile for the cameras, our governments say all the right things, and neither country acknowledges what they think is really at stake: Africa's future and the chance to dominate it.

Deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe met with his Nigerian counterpart in Cape Town this week as part of the Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission to thrash out all the petty administrative issues between the two countries. They addressed the more mundane aspects of international relations: technical cooperation, existing bilateral agreement implementation and customs administration.