South African President Cyril Ramaphosa came to London on Tuesday to meet the British King Charles III, who hosts his first state visit as monarch.
Following a state banquet for the South African delegation at Buckingham Palace this evening, Sunak will welcome Ramaphosa to Downing Street on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting and lunch.
Ramaphosa will also address the British Parliament, attend the Horse Guards Parade with William and Kate, Prince and Princess of Wales, meet the King there, travel with him in a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, and see an exhibition of South African items from the Royal Collection. These and other events in store for the President are customary and were formalized during the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The UK officials expressed hope that the visit will strengthen and deepen bilateral cooperation.
“I look forward to welcoming President Ramaphosa to London this week to discuss how we can deepen the partnership between our two great nations and capitalise on shared opportunities, from trade and tourism and security and defence,” Sunak said.
The prime minister also expressed satisfaction with the current state of relations between the two countries.
“South Africa is already the UK’s biggest trading partner on the continent, and we have ambitious plans to turbocharge infrastructure investment and economic growth together,” prime minister Rishi Sunak said.
In fact, the UK’s trade with South Africa accounts for approximately 30% of the Western country's total trade with the African continent, worth about $13 billion per year.
According to the UK government, the next phase of the UK-South Africa Infrastructure Partnership is expected to begin on Tuesday, giving UK companies access to South Africa's projects worth up to $6.35 billion over the next three years. The countries are also anticipated to reach an agreement on a new grant-funded technical assistance program for South Africa to help it develop green hydrogen.
18 November 2022, 12:35 GMT
Earlier, the South African president visited the UK within the framework of the funeral of the Queen Elizabeth II, who died on September 8. In June 2021, he also paid a visit to the country to attend the G7 Leaders' Summit in Cornwall.
In 2019, Ramaphosa participated in the UK’s Financial Times Africa Summit, an annual meeting which focuses on the current business affairs in African countries. In 2018, when Ramaphosa took office, he visited the UK to take part in Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.