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Ivorian Coast President Alassane Ouattara and President Cyril Ramaphosa throughout a state go to on the Union Buildings on Friday.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara on Friday.
- The 2 international locations agreed that the battle brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine needed to finish.
- Ramaphosa stated the conflict was a cautionary story for Africa after grain shortages had been skilled.
When President Cyril Ramaphosa signed six agreements together with his Ivorian counterpart, Alassane Ouattara, on Friday, to strengthen bilateral ties, he cautioned towards Africa’s reliance on European international locations for important meals commodities.
Ramaphosa stated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had left African international locations with little selection however to start out producing meals commodities.
Ukraine is among the main suppliers of grain to a number of international locations the world over, however commerce was disrupted when the conflict started in February. A blockade within the Black Sea affected Ukrainian commerce ships’ departure and plenty of international locations skilled grain shortages, in addition to shortages of different commodities, similar to fertilisers.
READ | Wheat costs drop to pre-war ranges after Ukraine and Russia strike deal to unblock shipments
Whereas Ramaphosa was happy a couple of UN-backed grain export deal, he warned that the conflict was a cautionary story for Africa.
“We’re happy that the secretary-general of the UN is headed to Turkey to signal the settlement, an settlement mentioned on the G7 assembly. We inspired all events, whether or not Russia or Ukraine, to make sure that the settlement was signed to permit these ships to undergo that hall.
“It has taken a lot too lengthy, for my part, as a result of that battle has put a cease to the exportation of grain and fertilisers to varied components of the world,” Ramaphosa stated.
He added that those that noticed the settlement as a sign of a potential finish to the conflict wouldn’t be incorrect.
“Sure we must always, hopefully, see it in that regard. Everybody needs to see peace and an finish to that battle.”
The president in contrast the necessity for the continent to be self-reliant, to an analogous want witnessed with the availability of vaccines throughout the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Typically, these conflicts needs to be seen as alternatives for us to see ourselves as Africa, and for us to take a look at our weaknesses and incapacities. Africa has develop into so reliant on meals safety for inputs that allow meals manufacturing from different international locations. We proposed, and the EU supported us on this regard relating to meals safety, we also needs to depend on ourselves for meals commodities similar to fertilisers to be produced right here.”
He added:
Our continued reliance on an enormous variety of grains from that theatre of the world needs to be seen as a threat. And it needs to be seen as a hazard to Africa’s 1.3 billion folks. We, due to this fact, want to make use of this battle as a wake-up name.
State go to hailed as a hit
Ouattara’s go to to South Africa this week adopted Ramaphosa’s week-long journey to the Ivory Coast in December 2021.
The December go to was the primary by a South African president in years.
A big delegation of ministers from each international locations attended the ceremony on the Union Buildings on Friday, the place bilateral talks ensued. 9 memorandums of understanding had been signed in December and on Friday, the 2 international locations agreed on different sectors of cooperation.
READ | Ramaphosa’s first state go to to Cote d’Ivoire seen as a win-win for each international locations
Ouattara stated his talks with Ramaphosa symbolised the solidifying of a path to improvement for each international locations.
Ramaphosa described the talks as “heat”.
“The go to exhibits a dedication to strengthening commerce between our two international locations. We signed 9 agreements and memorandums of agreements in December whereas in Ivory Coast. At the moment we’ve got signed six further agreements,” he stated.
He stated the agreements centered on shared pursuits, youth improvement, ladies empowerment and financial sectors, similar to oil, gasoline, agriculture, defence and transport.
Commerce between the 2 international locations elevated from R1.3 billion in 2019 to R2 billion in 2021.
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