{"id":730,"date":"2018-07-12T11:34:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T11:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefreezoneblog.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/12\/south-africa-president-cyril-ramaphosa\/"},"modified":"2018-07-12T11:34:00","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T11:34:00","slug":"south-africa-president-cyril-ramaphosa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefreezonechannel.com\/old\/south-africa-president-cyril-ramaphosa\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa – 25th Anniversary Celebrations of African Export-Import Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAddress by
\nPresident Cyril Ramaphosa during the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of
\nthe African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Abuja, Nigeria<\/div>\n
\nProgramme Director,<\/div>\n
\nThe President of Afreximbank, Dr Benedict Oramah,<\/div>\n
\nHE Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mr Moussa Faki,<\/div>\n
\nHE President of the Republic of Niger, President Mahamadou Issoufou,<\/div>\n
\nHonourable Ministers,<\/div>\n
\nYour Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps,<\/div>\n
\nDistinguished Guests,<\/div>\n
\nLadies and Gentlemen,<\/div>\n
\nIt
\n is a great honour and privilege for me to be part of this occasion,
\nwhich marks a remarkable milestone in the history of Afreximbank.<\/div>\n
\nAllow me to congratulate you on this great achievement and for the important work the bank has done over the past 25 years.<\/div>\n
\nI am very pleased
\nto be sharing a platform with President Mahamadou Issoufou, who has been
\n leading the African Continental Free Trade Area process.<\/div>\n
\nUnder his leadership, we have made significant progress towards making the AfCFTA a reality.<\/div>\n
\nThe 25th
\nanniversary of Afreximbank coincides with two historic occasions in
\nSouth Africa – the centenary of the birth of former President Nelson
\nMandela exactly a week from today and the centenary of the birth of Mama
\n Albertina Sisulu in October.<\/div>\n
\nThese two great Africans are synonymous with South Africa’s struggle for freedom, justice and equality.<\/div>\n
\nThe outstanding role they played in our journey to democracy will forever be etched in the annals of history.<\/div>\n
\nAs a country, we
\nare today able to participate in such events as the 25th anniversary of
\nAfreximbank thanks to their contribution not only to free South Africa,
\nbut also to ensure that it ties its future to the future of the African
\ncontinent.<\/div>\n
\nWe continue to be inspired by these two icons in the work we do every day to create a better Africa and a better world.<\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nWe are guided by the words of President Mandela, when he said:<\/div>\n
\n“I am fundamentally
\n an optimist… Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed
\ntoward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments
\nwhen my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could
\nnot give myself to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”<\/div>\n
\nWe gather here in Abuja as optimists, our heads pointed towards the sun, our feet moving forward.<\/div>\n
\nWe are not daunted by the obstacles we face, nor discouraged by the setbacks we experience.<\/div>\n
\nWe are determined
\nto build an Africa that is prosperous, that is at peace, that is
\ninclusive and where all its people enjoy an improving quality of life.<\/div>\n
\nWe are encouraged
\nby the progress that has been made in many areas of endeavour, from
\ngovernance to trade, from education to technology.<\/div>\n
\nWe are encouraged by the ongoing work of the African Union and its organs.<\/div>\n
\nWe have seen significant growth and development in economies across the continent.<\/div>\n
\nWe have many
\nsuccess stories of companies and organisations that are making a great
\ndifference in the lives of the people of Africa.<\/div>\n
\nAfreximbank is one such story, which serves as an example and an inspiration to many others.<\/div>\n
\nWe are optimistic
\nabout Africa’s future because of the momentous developments over the
\nlast few months in forging a free trade area across the continent.<\/div>\n
\nThe Extraordinary
\nAfrican Union Summit in Kigali in March was a watershed, with most of
\nthe countries on the continent signing up to the agreement on the
\nAfrican CFTA.<\/div>\n
\nAt the 31st Session
\n of the AU Assembly in Mauritania just over a week ago, South Africa
\njoined its counterparts in signing the agreement.<\/div>\n
\nAgreement on the Continental Free Trade Agreement represents a new dawn for Africa.<\/div>\n
\nThis new dawn
\nsignals the unity of purpose among Africans and a quest to work together
\n to achieve a common goal of a prosperous and independent continent.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe AfCFTA makes us a winning continent because it carries a vision that represents the aspirations of our forebears.<\/div>\n
\nIt encourages unity among us rather than division.<\/div>\n
\nIt gives practical
\nexpression to our long-held belief that the interests of any nation in
\nour continent become meaningless if they are not pursued within the
\ncontext of shared prosperity among African people as a whole.<\/div>\n
\nIt is a significant
\n step towards the creation of an integrated and diversified market of
\napproximately $3.3 trillion with a population of over 1 billion people.<\/div>\n
\nIn pursuing the
\nCFTA, we seek to combine market integration with industrial and
\ninfrastructure development to ensure that we enhance Africa’s productive
\n capacity, address supply-side constraints and alleviate the
\ninfrastructure deficit.<\/div>\n
\nWe have to have the
\n means to produce the goods that will be freely traded across the
\ncontinent and we need to have the roads, railways, ports and air routes
\nthat are going to carry these goods.<\/div>\n
\nThe CFTA will assist Africa as it works towards self-reliance and self-sufficiency.<\/div>\n
\nBy trading among
\nourselves, we will be able to retain more resources within our continent
\n to be shared among our people, alleviating poverty and reducing
\ninequality.<\/div>\n
\nIntegration, and
\nthe economic development that will accompany it, will also contribute
\ntowards the maintenance of stability, democracy, peace and development.<\/div>\n
\nAt the same time,
\nwe need to work with greater determination and urgency to end conflict
\nand instability to create improved conditions for economic development.<\/div>\n
\nGreater integration and inclusive growth provides greater possibilities to replace conflict with constructive dialogue.<\/div>\n
\nIntegration will assist in our efforts to silence the guns on our continent.<\/div>\n
\nProgramme Director,<\/div>\n
\nThis annual meeting
\n is convened at a time when the multilateral trading system is under
\nsevere strain, largely due to an abandonment by some of the agreed upon
\nrules of engagement.<\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nIt is important
\nthat this meeting considers the full extent of this strain because it
\ncarries the risk of reversing the modest gains we have made in placing
\ndevelopment at the centre of the multilateral trading system.<\/div>\n
\nOur response must be to consolidate and advance the integration of our continental market.<\/div>\n
\nUnder the
\nleadership of President Issoufou, our collective priority should be to
\nconclude Phase I and II of the negotiations of the CFTA, before
\ncommencing new preferential trading negotiations with third parties
\noutside of the continent.<\/div>\n
\nWe have set
\nourselves a deadline of 2020 to conclude the CFTA negotiations and to
\nensure that the liberalisation of trade in goods is complimented by
\nrules on investment, competition policy and intellectual property
\nrights.<\/div>\n
\nIn this way, we will be able to unlock Africa’s full productive capacity.<\/div>\n
\nI have no doubt
\nthat those of you gathered here have the requisite ability not only to
\ndeal with the economic challenges facing our continent but also to
\ndevelop practical programmes that will accelerate the pace towards
\nmeaningful regional integration.<\/div>\n
\nLet us spare
\nneither effort nor strength as we work collectively to build and achieve
\n the Africa we want, as articulated in Agenda 2063.<\/div>\n
\nAs I conclude,
\nplease allow me, once more, to congratulate Afreximbank for achieving
\nthis milestone, and wish that you grow from strength to strength in
\norder to make a meaningful contribution in the development of the
\ncontinent.<\/div>\n
\nI wish you well in your further deliberations.<\/div>\n
\nI thank you.<\/div>\n
\nMore from:<\/div>\n
\nThe Presidency<\/div>\n
\nMore on:<\/div>\n
\nAfrica<\/div>\n
\nAddress by
\nPresident Cyril Ramaphosa during the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of
\nthe African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Abuja, Nigeria Programme
\nDirector,<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nculled:Allafrica<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Abuja, Nigeria Programme Director, The President of Afreximbank, Dr Benedict Oramah, HE Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mr Moussa Faki, HE President of the Republic of Niger, President Mahamadou Issoufou, Honourable Ministers, Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[124],"class_list":["post-730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-trade-industry","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\nSouth Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa - 25th Anniversary Celebrations of African Export-Import Bank - 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