"If Africa is to be the next economic
frontier as all predictions indicate, it is up to us to ensure that we play a
pivotal role in the economic future of our own continent.
"What is required is that we do things that
go beyond the ordinary. It cannot be business as usual on the African
continent," Zuma said in notes prepared for delivery at the SA-Mozambique
Business Forum, during his visit to the country.
Zuma said a proposed developmental integration
project between the two countries would place emphasis on building productive
and industrial capacity and would address constraints such as limited road,
rail, ports and energy infrastructure.
He also congratulated the country for being ranked
among the fastest-growing economies in the world.
"This country... has the potential to become
one of the strongest economies in Africa," he said.
Zuma said more needed to be done to improve the
continent's marketing to the rest of the world.
"International events have proven to be one
of the most powerful means of opening up a positive side of the continent to a
world that had been fed stereotypes and stories of gloom and doom," he
said.
Zuma used the 2010 Soccer World Cup as well as the
recent United Nations climate change negotiations in Durban as examples of
successful marketing.
"When all pessimists had decided that Durban
was the burial ground for the UN climate change negotiations, Africa sprang a
surprise...(it) rescued the climate change negotiations process," he said.