South Africa urges world to partner with Africa

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - South Africa's president on Tuesday called on leaders of the world’s most advanced economies to partner with the African continent in mitigating the impacts of climate change as well as choosing Africa as an investment destination and trading partner.

“The President [Cyril Ramaphosa] highlighted the potential opportunities arising for the continent of Africa and global partners from the inception of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area that will create the world’s largest single free trade area with a market of 1.2 billion people,” the presidential office said in a statement.

Ramaphosa also urged his African counterparts and G7 leaders “to support interventions to silence the guns of conflict in Africa”, a continent which still has a number of countries engulfed in civil wars.

“President Ramaphosa also expressed South Africa’s commitment to mitigation of climate change, as well as to a just transition from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy that will protect jobs and livelihoods and give communities equitable, affordable access to emerging alternatives in energy,” the statement said.

During the two-day working visit on Aug. 25-26, Ramaphosa held bilateral talks with U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera, and former Prime Minister of Italy Giuseppe Conte.

He also addressed various forums at the G7 summit and participated in a working lunch that brought together African Union Chair President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, President Macky Sell of Senegal and President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso.

Ramaphosa used the meeting to invite global partners to experience South Africa as an investment destination and trade partner.

South Africa attended the G7 summit on the invitation of France which also invited a few other countries on the continent and key representatives of civil society. The focus for this year's summit was the reduction of inequalities prevailing around the world.

The G7 Summit is a forum of the seven countries with the world's most industrialized and developed economies. They include, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. Leaders of G7 countries meet annually to discuss important global economic, political, social and security issues.