Ramaphosa, Macron condemn instability, security issues in Africa

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Ramaphosa, Macron condemn instability, security issues in Africa

5:48 CAT | 28 May 2021

French President Emmanuel Macron and President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 28 May 2021. Picture: GCIS

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in South Africa on Friday to hold talks with Ramaphosa on the COVID-19 pandemic, trade and the worsening conflict in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, have condemned the instability and security issues on the continent.

Macron arrived in South Africa on Friday to hold talks with Ramaphosa on the COVID-19 pandemic, trade and the worsening conflict in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province.

The French president arrived in South Africa from a historic visit to Rwanda, where he acknowledged French responsibility in the 1994 genocide and pleaded for forgiveness.

He also discussed the violent retaliation by insurgents in northern Mozambique where French energy giant, Total, withdrew its operations following deadly attacks which affected both South African and French nationals.

Macron said that France was willing to support diplomatic interventions if Mozambique requested it.

“On this matter, we are well aware that Mozambique is dealing with jihadist groups which are currently threatening the security of the region, in particular in Cabo Delgado. France is available but the heart of the answer, it should be an African response at the request of Mozambique and coordinated with the neighbouring countries,” Macron said.

Ramaphosa echoed the same sentiments, saying that the Mozambique region remained under observation by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) community.

“The SADC stands ready to assist Mozambique to ward off these insurgents. We also deliberated on Mozambique’s requirements as a sovereign state to get help from other parts of the world,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa welcomes France offer to assist & work in collaboration with various bodies to assist Mozambique. He says during Double Troika Summit on Thurs, a technical assessment team sent in Mozambique articulated the needs of the country, #FranceInSA #BeterAfricaBetterWorld

— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) May 28, 2021

Addressing members of the media during the State Visit of the French Republic #FranceInSA #BetterAfricaBetterWorld https://t.co/hkTHkIiVzj

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 #StaySafe (@CyrilRamaphosa) May 28, 2021

Covid-19 vaccine production in Africa

President Ramaphosa also reiterated his call to speed up the process of giving South Africa capacity to produce its own COVID-19 vaccines.

Both heads of state have agreed that it was imperative to produce vaccines in Africa.

Macron, who has voiced his support for vaccine production, arrived in South Africa for his first visit as the country was battling more than 1.6 million infections.

While only about 1% of the country’s population of 59 million had been vaccinated, most of them health workers and people aged 60 or above.

Ramaphosa said that vaccine production would capacitate African countries in the fight against the pandemic.

“When we first raised the issue as South Africa and India, we were arguing for a waiver, which we continue to put forward, that ‘let us have a waiver for the duration of the pandemic’ to enable countries to be able to gain capacity and manufacture and produce vaccines.”

Macron said that he was pushing for a transfer of technology to enable production sites in poorer countries.

Macron and Ramaphosa will later on Friday head to the University of Pretoria to launch a programme to support African vaccine production, a project backed by the European Union, United States and the World Bank.

L’Afrique du Sud est le berceau de l’humanité. Elle porte en elle un héritage et des leçons universelles. Elle est la Nation aux quatre prix Nobel ! C’est aussi notre voisin, celui de nos territoires d’outre-mer. Heureux de cette première visite. Nous allons renforcer nos liens. pic.twitter.com/3QuHjUuz1z

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 28, 2021

La France a un rôle, une histoire, une responsabilité politique au Rwanda. Elle a un devoir : celui de regarder l’Histoire en face et de reconnaître la part de souffrance qu’elle a infligée au peuple rwandais en faisant trop longtemps prévaloir le silence sur l’examen de vérité. pic.twitter.com/78YU5P6o9X

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 27, 2021

This has been a good visit where we re-affirmed the bonds of friendship and solidarity that exist between our two countries, and we look forward to continued collaboration for the benefit of our peoples, our countries, our respective regions & the world.https://t.co/hkTHkIiVzj

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 #StaySafe (@CyrilRamaphosa) May 28, 2021

Source: EWN