President Cyril Ramaphosa: South Africa - Spain Business Forum

Your Excellencies,

Mr Jordi Hereu, Minister for Industry and Tourism of Spain,

Mr Parks Tau, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition of South Africa,

Mr José Luis Bonet, President of the Spain Chamber of Commerce,

Mr Antonio Garamendi, President of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations, Business leaders from Spain and South Africa,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

It is a great honour to address this Spain–South Africa Business Forum.

 

I wish to thank His Majesty King Felipe VI, the Government of Spain and the Spanish business community for the warm hospitality extended to the South African delegation during our visit.

 

This visit reflects the strength of our longstanding partnership and our shared commitment to building a modern, dynamic and mutually beneficial economic relationship.

 

Spain is a valued partner to South Africa.

 

Our relationship is built on shared values and a common belief in inclusive growth, industrial development and sustainable prosperity.

 

Today, we meet not only to celebrate our partnership, but to shape its next chapter.

 

In 2025, total trade between South Africa and Spain reached approximately 2.8 billion Euros.

 

South Africa’s exports to Spain reached 1.3 billion Euros, a 10 percent increase over the previous year.

 

This makes Spain our fastest-growing major trading partner within the European Union.

 

Our countries do not compete. We complement each other, demonstrating how strategic partnerships can strengthen global value chains.

 

Over 150 Spanish companies currently operate on South African soil, supporting more than 20,000 jobs across sectors that range from renewable energy and infrastructure to financial services, technology and tourism.

 

Added to this is Spain’s commitment of over 2.1 billion Euros to South Africa’s just energy transition. This is directed at green hydrogen, electric vehicles, renewable energy and grid infrastructure.

 

It is a statement of confidence not merely in our economy, but in our future.

 

Even though our trade relationship is strong, it remains structurally imbalanced. It is concentrated in a narrow range of products.

 

Motor vehicles for the transport of goods account for nearly half of South Africa’s exports to Spain.

 

Such concentration creates vulnerability.

 

If we are to strengthen this relationship, if we are to make it sustainable, we must focus on diversification.

 

South Africa holds the world’s largest reserves of platinum group metals.

 

These critical minerals sit at the heart of hydrogen fuel cell technology, clean energy systems and the future of electric mobility.

 

At the same time, Spain is rapidly positioning itself as one of Europe’s leading players in the hydrogen economy.

 

This creates an opportunity for an alignment of our strengths.

 

South Africa brings the resource base. Spain brings technological capability, investment and market access.

 

Together, this creates the foundation for a new kind of partnership, a collaboration across the value chains of the future.

 

Spain has demonstrated global leadership in economic sectors where South Africa has its most urgent and growing needs.

 

In renewable energy, Spain ranks among the top five countries in the world.

 

In water management and desalination, it is the leading country in Europe, using technologies that South Africa needs as it confronts growing water stress.

 

In infrastructure, hydrogen, and tourism, Spain sets standards that the world follows.

 

South Africa, in turn, offers a sophisticated industrial base, abundant natural resources, and world-class financial institutions.

 

We offer a strategic position as the gateway into a continent of more than 1.4 billion people with a combined GDP exceeding $3.4 trillion.

 

South Africa and Spain are not just two countries trading goods.

 

We are two economies with the potential to build value chains that serve markets far beyond our own borders.

 

We see strong opportunities to grow South African exports to Spain and to the broader European market in several areas.

 

These include agro-processing and high-value agricultural products.

 

They include specialty chemicals and sustainable fuels, pharmaceuticals and health technologies.

 

As we look to the future, we see expanding opportunities for the export of beneficiated critical minerals, green industrial materials and renewable energy inputs, and electric vehicles and components.

 

What we seek is deeper industrial cooperation, expanded market access and integration into value chains that connect our productive capacity to European consumer and industrial markets.

 

To take one example: South Africa’s automotive industry is the largest on the African continent.

 

As the world transitions to electric vehicles, the question is not whether South Africa will be part of that value chain but whether we will be a raw material supplier or a manufacturing partner.

 

We want to be manufacturers and assemblers.

 

And we look to Spanish companies to travel that road with us.

 

Spanish companies have already proven what investment in South Africa can achieve.

 

Construction is underway at Acciona’s wind farms at Zen and Bergriver, totalling nearly 200 megawatts of clean energy capacity. They are expected to be commissioned by mid-2027.

 

Iberdrola’s Jasper Solar Plant in the Northern Cape province was the largest solar plant in Africa when it was commissioned.

 

Projects like these are the cornerstones of an industrial partnership.

 

South Africa offers policy certainty and strong institutions.

 

We offer a diversified industrial economy, a sophisticated banking sector, a robust legal framework and deep experience in managing complex industrial projects.

 

We are implementing reforms to improve our logistics network, strengthen our electricity system and create a more competitive business environment.

 

We are making it easier to invest, easier to trade and easier to grow.

 

As we expand trade, we must ensure that the rules governing global commerce are fair and support development.

 

South Africa supports climate action.

 

We are committed to a just transition toward a low-carbon economy.

 

But new regulatory frameworks, including the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, must not become instruments that inadvertently punish developing economies for emissions they did not historically cause.

 

We are not opposed to the principle of carbon accountability.

 

What we ask is that climate measures be accompanied by the necessary climate finance, technology transfer and transitional arrangements that the Paris Agreement and successive COP commitments have promised.

 

We look to Spain to champion a just and equitable approach within EU institutions.

 

This Business Forum is about practical outcomes.

 

Alongside the engagements we are having with Spanish business, we present a high-impact pipeline of 85 investment projects valued at over 62 billion Euros.

 

Through our investment promotion agency – InvestSA – these opportunities have been developed into structured, investment-ready projects designed for partnership and phased implementation.

 

These projects span energy transition infrastructure, green industrialisation, critical minerals beneficiation, agro-industrial value chains, sustainable fuels, digital connectivity and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

 

They are underpinned by clear policy frameworks, targeted investment incentives and dedicated one-stop facilitation mechanisms to ease implementation.

 

We invite Spanish capital, technology and industrial expertise to partner with us in advancing these projects and building integrated value chains between our two economies.

 

Our message to every Spanish company in this room is that South Africa is open for business.

 

We invite you to partner with us not only as investors, but as long-term industrial partners, as co-builders of industries that will serve our people and yours for generations.

 

We have an opportunity to connect European technological strength with African growth.

 

We have an opportunity to build supply chains that are resilient, sustainable and inclusive.

 

Most importantly, we have an opportunity to create prosperity that is genuinely shared in Madrid and in Johannesburg, in Seville and in Durban, in the farming towns of Andalucía and in the mining communities of Limpopo.

 

Let us leave this forum with a shared commitment to turn dialogue into meaningful action.

 

Let us harness our respective strengths and capabilities to build a partnership for the future.