President successfully concludes working visit to France
President Cyril Ramaphosa successfully concludes the working visit to Paris, France, where he participated in the Summit on the Financing of African Economies hosted by President Emmanuel Macron.
African Heads of State and Government were joined by leaders of Financing Institutions such as International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and representatives of G7 and G20 countries.
Discussions centred on external funding and debt treatment, as well as African private sector reforms and expansion, and infrastructure development.
These discussions reinforced the role played by President Ramaphosa during South Africa’s 2020 tenure as Chair of the African Union to secure a strong and inclusive economic recovery in Africa.
The President appointed Special Envoys of the African Union to mobilise international support for Africa’s efforts to address the economic challenges African countries will face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summit leaders stated their ambition to act together and fight the great divergence occurring within and between countries.
The summit recognised the role of extensive immunisation against COVID-19 as global public good and committed to ensure and accelerate equitable access in Africa to safe and affordable vaccines, treatments and diagnostics through the ACT-Accelerator and its COVAX facility.
The Summit called for a swift decision on and implementation of an unprecedented general allocation of the International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) which is expected to amount to 650 billion US dollars, of which 33 billion US dollars will be used to increase reserve assets of African countries.
The Summit expressed support for African national strategies on growth and jobs , and welcomed the ambition to develop an Alliance for Entrepreneurship in Africa, with a broad pan- African reach and strong business focus.
The Alliance will help mobilise all partners ready to support, through financial and technical resources, the development of the private sector on the continent.
During the two-day visit , President Cyril Ramaphosa held bilateral talks with African Union Chairperson President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo ; President João Lourenço of the Republic of Angola ; President Alassane Ouattara of the Republic of Ivory Coast ; President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi of the Republic of Mozambique ; President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal ; President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda, and President Faure Gnassingbé of the Republic of Togo to enhance South Africa’s diplomatic relations.
Ahead of the start of the Summit earlier today, President Ramaphosa and President Macron of the French Republic met for bilateral talks at the Élysée Palace.
The leaders’ discussion paved the way for the State Visit that President Macron will undertake to South Africa at the end of May 2021.
The leaders also discussed vaccine production and distribution, with President Ramaphosa emphasising the importance of the temporary waiver of the World Trade Organisation regulations on intellectual property, to enable Africa to expand its capability to independently produce vaccines that will combat COVID-19 and future pandemics.
In anticipation of the State visit, President Macron expressed interest to establish a partnership with South African vaccine - producing institutions, to enhance manufacturing capacity.
South Africa and France relations spans across areas of cooperation in energy, education, science and technology, as well as trade and investment among others. The relations extend to the European Union, making South Africa a key trading partner.
President Ramaphosa was accompanied by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor and Acting Minister in the Presidency ,Ms Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.
Media enquiries: Tyrone Seale, Acting Spokesperson to President Ramaphosa at media@presidency.gov.za
