What to expect when Ramaphosa meets Biden in Washington next week

When President Cyril Ramaphosa meets US President Joe Biden in Washington next Thursday, he is expected to discuss issues of food security as well as regional and global peace and stability, including the Ukraine-Russia war.  

This is according to presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, who told TimesLIVE Ramaphosa was looking forward to the working visit on September 16.

The White House announced last Thursday the two heads of state would discuss a wide range of issues aimed at strengthening bilateral relations between  the two nations.

The meeting follows a visit by US secretary of state Antony Blinken to SA in August.

According to a Republicworld.com report, Biden is looking at wooing African nations owing to SA’s position on the Russian invasion.

Biden’s administration is said to have been disappointed by SA and other nations not condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Magwenya said Biden's invitation to Ramaphosa was delivered by Blinken when he was in SA.

“Over and above the issues the White House presented for discussion, from our side President Ramaphosa will raise the issue of transitioning Africa from food insecurity to food security.

“So he will advocate for US support, just like he did when he engaged with the G7 leaders to support the initiatives that specifically deal with the manufacturing of fertilisers, on the back of the fallout from the Ukraine-Russia war.

“There will also be a discussion around regional and global peace and security. SA is active in peacekeeping initiatives in the region in countries like Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Therefore it will be strategic to discuss potential forms of support from other international partners like the US.”

The two heads of state will also discuss political and trade relations.

According to the department of international relations, the US is SA’s third-largest trading partner (after China and the EU), with more than 600 US companies operating in the country.

US foreign direct investment (FDI) in SA was $7.8bn (R135.7bn) in 2019, a 6.8% increase from 2018. The US investment is led by manufacturing, finance and insurance and wholesale trade. SA's FDI in the US was $4.1bn (R71.4bn) in 2019, up 1.2% from 2018.

Magwenya said the president is also looking at increasing trade flows and strengthening the relationship between the two countries. “We want to increase export to the US and attract investment so that we can create jobs.”

He said Ramaphosa will be accompanied by international relations minister Naledi Pandor.

“Apart from meeting with president Biden, the president will also meet other key stakeholders while in Washington.”

Ramaphosa will also be attending the UN General Assembly session and will be joined by some of his cabinet ministers who will be participating in some of the side events.

On the Ukraine-Russia war, Magwenya said SA took the position that it would not condemn the Russian invasion. “Instead, SA decided to engage constructively with all parties involved in the conflict and those that can influence a peaceful outcome to the conflict.”

Magwenya said this was evident in the bilateral discussions that the president had had with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, former UK prime minister Boris Johnson and China’s Xi Jinping as well as discussions at the G7.

“SA’s position was clearly articulated — that we are taking a position that calls on all parties to establish a conducive climate for talks and for parties to commit themselves to a dialogue process that will arrive at a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

“It may have not been necessarily a popular position. It was nonetheless a position that we took, in place of joining the condemnation queue. SA decided that we will first engage and stress the importance of a dialogue that will arrive at a peaceful resolution.”

Magwenya said Ramaphosa had also engaged with Putin about the creation of safe corridors for civilians fleeing the war zone. 

The president believed and recognised that peaceful negotiations were what would ultimately lead to a resolution of the conflict.

“It’s not going to be a winner-takes-all outcome.”

This is not the first time that Ramaphosa will be meeting with his US counterpart, the two leaders have had several phone conversations.

“Physically, the two heads of states also met and chatted at the G7 summit in Germany even though it was not a formal bilateral engagement. During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic they had video calls where they discussed co-operation around vaccine access.

“They also discussed the co-operation around the TRIPS waiver which led to the historical agreement at the WTO. So they've had a number of engagements that point to a lot of commonality in terms of key issues that need to be resolved and require co-operation.”

Magwenya said this meeting will be a continuation of those engagements.

“SA’s voice matters because we still enjoy a large degree of moral authority arising from our own transition from an apartheid state to a democratic society.

“We are still a shining example in terms of the constitutional democratic order that we have been able to establish and sustain, and our role in the African continent in terms of peacekeeping and advocating for Africa's development. All of these matters give SA a strong position globally.”

TimesLIVE

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