{"id":267618,"date":"2019-10-23T10:30:41","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T14:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/the-rise-of-africa-and-cyril-ramaphosa-in-case-you-missed-it\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:42:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:42:22","slug":"the-rise-of-africa-and-cyril-ramaphosa-in-case-you-missed-it","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2019\/10\/the-rise-of-africa-and-cyril-ramaphosa-in-case-you-missed-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise of Africa and Cyril Ramaphosa, in case you missed it"},"content":{"rendered":"

A <\/span>journalist covering the 2019 G7 Biarritz Summit in August caused a social media firestorm<\/span><\/a> when she tweeted out a photo of four leaders in mid-embrace. The problem wasn\u2019t the picture, it was the accompanying description: \u201cWorld leader bear hug before the group photo @#G7Summit in Biarritz, France. @EmmanuelMacron @narendramodi @JustinTrudeau and one unidentified leader.\u201d The unnamed person? South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n

Ramaphosa took office in February 2018, replacing his long-embattled predecessor, Jacob Zuma. He leads a country of nearly 59 million people<\/span><\/a> that also has the most advanced industrial economy on the continent. He has attended the 2018 G7 Charlevoix Summit, the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires Summit, and, most recently, in June, the 2019 G20 Osaka Summit. All of which begs the question: how could Ramaphosa have gone unrecognized at a G7 gathering?<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps the answer is simply that the reporter \u2013 like too many of us \u2013 hasn\u2019t been paying close enough attention to the rapprochement happening in Africa or to the central role that Ramaphosa has played in it. With 28 percent of all the world\u2019s countries, Africa could easily have an outsized impact on international geopolitics and the global economy. Ramaphosa is one of many African leaders actively working together to make this become a reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three days after Biarritz, Ramaphosa was in Yokohama, Japan, to address a bilateral business forum<\/span><\/a>. His topic was the African continent\u2019s competitive advantages, as it enters a new era: \u201c<\/span>We share an untapped demographic boom, as populations across the continent grow larger, more urbanized and better educated.\u00a0We share immense natural wealth, and incredible potential for the development of advanced manufacturing and services economies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He then presented a striking comparison: \u201c<\/span>Without doubt our development path will be long and complex.\u00a0But the lesson of the development of the Asia-Pacific region must surely be that those who invest early and work to develop local capabilities stand to gain the most as underdevelopment gives way to a region of huge consumer markets and advanced productive hubs.\u201d In other words, both can be mammoth economic regions \u2500 Asian and African elephants.<\/span><\/p>\n

A week later, back in Cape Town, Ramaphosa hosted the 2019 World Economic Forum on Africa<\/span><\/a> and declared boldly: \u201cThis is Africa\u2019s century.\u201d He pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Agreement Area (AfCFTA), which he has said<\/span><\/a> \u201c<\/span>gives practical expression to our long-held belief that the interests of any nation in our continent become meaningless if they are not pursued within the context of shared prosperity among African people as a whole.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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World leader bear hug before the group photo @ #G7Summit<\/a> in Biarritz, France. \u2066@EmmanuelMacron<\/a>\u2069 \u2066@narendramodi<\/a>\u2069 \u2066@JustinTrudeau<\/a>\u2069 and one unidentified leader. pic.twitter.com\/Ij9PsYrV2j<\/a><\/p>\n

— darlene superville (@dsupervilleap) August 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n