SOUTH AFRICA – French President Emmanuel Macron is expected in South Africa Friday May 28 after concluding his tour of Rwanda where he was hosted by President Paul Kagame.
This will be Macron’s first visit to South Africa, after he became the French head of state in May 2017.
Macron will be hosted by South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa on a state visit at the Union buildings.
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The two Heads of State are expected to discuss ways to deepen bilateral cooperation, COVID-19, economic recovery as well as peace and security issues on the continent.
The Presidents will also discuss trade and investment, including technical skills training in South Africa in collaboration with the private sector.
Ramaphosa and Macron will later pay a visit to the Vaccine Production Support Initiative for Africa at the University of Pretoria.
South Africa is France’s largest trading partner in Africa, and on the other hand France is South Africa’s second largest trading partner in the European Union where South Africa’s exports to France were valued at $564.18 million (R7.87 billion) in 2020, according to the United Nations.
Ramaphosa was in France last week in a summit on the financing of African economies where he was hosted hosted by Macron.
The last French leader to visit South Africa was François Hollande in 2013, Macron’s predecessor.
Macron Thursday apologised for France role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide where 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus died.
He said France did not heed to warnings of possible war by choosing silence over examination of the truth, but maintained that they did not support the killings.
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