South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday concluded his visit to France where he attended the 2019 G7 Summit as an invited guest.
The South African leader took the opportunity to rally the world’s most advanced economies to partner with his country and the African continent in exploring the opportunities presented by free trade and the digital economy.
During his two-day stay in France, President Ramaphosa addressed various Summit forums and participated in a working lunch that brought together fellow invited African leaders including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré and the African Union Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.
The African leaders were invited to the Biarritz meeting in line with the G7’s partnership with the continent.
South Africa was invited to the 2019 G7 Summit as the incoming chair of the African Union, Rwanda in its capacity as the former chair and Egypt as the current chair. On the other hand, Senegal was invited as the current leader of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), while Burkina Faso attended the Summit as the chair of G5 Sahel.
President Ramaphosa will now head to Japan, where he is scheduled to participate in the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
TICAD is a multilateral leaders’ forum on African development that was first convened in 1993 in Japan.
The 2019 Summit will be convened under the theme of “Advancing Africa’s Development through Technology, Innovation and People.”
Other African leaders are also expected in Japan for the Forum, including Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Zambian President Edgar Lungu.
(With input from South African Presidency)
