Ramaphosa aims to strengthen, build stronger economic ties during Saudi Arabia state visit

When President Cyril Ramaphosa meets with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud on Saturday, he will attempt to persuade them to invest in South Africa.

“I think it’s going to be a very exciting and beneficial discussion visit for South Africa because Saudi Arabia is an important global player. I think the partnership and friendship that exists between our leaders is going to bring about really exciting outcomes from this visit,” said international relations minister Naledi Pandor.

She was speaking to the media shortly after arriving in Jeddah where Ramaphosa is on a two-day state visit at the invitation of the custodian of the two holy mosques and the king.

Ramaphosa arrived at the King Abdulaziz International Airport Royal terminal on Friday night where he was warmly received by the governor.

Pandor said bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to R66bn in 2021 and Ramaphosa’s plan is to increase foreign direct investment in SA.

SA is hoping the Middle Eastern country will invest in mining and infrastructure, among other key sectors.

Saudi Arabia and South Africa are members of the G20 and the former was aware of issues such as food insecurity in various parts of the African continent, she said.

“The G20 has made specific commitments to assist countries that are confronted by food insecurity and has taken a keen interest in the initiatives of the UN secretary-general to get grain out of Ukraine and Russia and to get it to those countries that are the usual purchasers of wheat.”

The effect of the war on Saudi Arabia and South Africa and common issues of rising inflation are expected to top the agenda in the discussions between the two countries.

Pandor added that strengthening economic ties between the Middle East and Africa was important because there are plans for an Africa-Arab Summit on the cards for 2023 to continue a momentum started  before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pandor said geopolitical tensions were having a negative effect on the fuel price in SA.

“The economic fallout in the UK is having an impact on various economies because these are all large economies and the trade rules conflict between the US and China and so all of these tensions taken as a whole have an impact on a range of commodity prices.”

Previously, she said, the two governments had discussed the possibility of increasing the oil refining capacity in SA with the likelihood of a refinery in KwaZulu-Natal.

“We need to continue to have those discussions because they have not come to fruition as yet. If we increase SA’s refining capacity, at least in terms of storage, we would then have a fallback should there be challenges with access to petroleum,” said Pandor.

On Saturday, Ramaphosa and his delegation, which includes ministers Thoko Didiza, Ebrahim Patel, Gwede Mantashe, Fikile Mbalula and Thandi Modise, will also discuss issues pertaining to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said: “It is envisioned that the various deliberations will provide renewed impetus to strengthened economic co-operation in identified priority sectors, notably agriculture, defence, energy, and transport, further underpinned by regular high-level engagements between the two countries.”

Ramaphosa is expected to participate in high-level business engagements, a round-table and close the Saudi Arabia-SA investment forum.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.