French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in South Africa Thursday accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni for a two- day state visit expected to be dominated by talks on South Africa's energy crisis, according to DPA. The French leader was due to hold talks Thursday morning with President Thabo Mbeki in Cape Town and address parliament before attending a banquet hosted by Mbeki Thursday evening. He and Bruni are also scheduled to meet former president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg Friday before capping the two-day state visit - Bruni's first official overseas visit as First Lady - with a private holiday. Sarkozy is being accompanied to by around 40 heads of French companies, including the CEOs of French nuclear giant Areva which is bidding to build a nuclear power station in South Africa and electricity utility EDF. "I would like in general for French firms to be more established in South Africa," Sarkozy told Johannesburg-based The Star newspaper in an interview.
