Remarks by President Ramaphosa during the G20 Investment Summit in Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany
30 October 2018
Chancellor Angela Merkel,
President Paul Kagame,
Prof Dr Heinz-Walter Grosse,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Thank you for this opportunity to share some insights on a partnership between Africa and the G20 that has great potential to transform the lives of the citizens and the fortunes of the businesses represented by the leadership gathered here today.
The G20 Compact with Africa is a pioneering initiative to support Africa’s ambition to mobilise domestic and international savings through an improved investment framework.
The initiative is based on the premise that accelerated economic development is achievable when African countries, G20 partner countries and international organisations work together to create a better environment for private investment to lift the standard of living for our people.
This initiative builds on earlier G20 initiatives in Africa, including the G20 Initiative on Supporting Industrialisation in Africa and Least Developed Countries, and the G20 Access to Energy Action Plan.
The Compact with Africa initiative is an instrument that can support the implementation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, its Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development and the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa.
It is significant that this initiative has been developed as a partnership, where each African country is able to define its own priorities and needs.
This is critical for ensuring the success and continuity of the Compact.
The Compact with Africa also represents a firm political commitment from participating African countries to new developmental and governance approaches that will unlock economic activity.
We applaud fellow African countries that are participating in this initiative, demonstrating the value of global cooperation and coordination towards an industrialised, prosperous Africa.
Since its launch in 2017, we have already witnessed progress under the Compact with Africa Initiative.
We now have a list of flagship projects worth billions of US dollars which are identified and earmarked for investment.
We are convinced that the impact of the Compact with Africa initiative will be enhanced by the involvement of development finance institutions.
Among other things, these institutions have expertise and approaches that could be used to mobilise resources for Africa’s infrastructure.
As part of the effort to promote private investment on the continent, South Africa and the African Development Bank will host the inaugural Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg from 7 to 9 November 2018.
The Africa Investment Forum is a transactional platform bringing together international financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors.
South Africa, Germany and the African Development Bank will also host the annual Compact with Africa Investor Event on the morning of 8 November.
This event presents an opportunity to showcase improved investment conditions in African countries participating in the Compact with Africa initiative, as well as concrete private sector activity into these countries.
These initiatives complement our own efforts in South Africa, where we launched an ambitious investment drive earlier this year to raise $100 billion in new investment over the next five years.
Last week, we hosted the inaugural South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg, which was attended by both local and international investors.
Significantly, there was also great interest from business people and investors from other African countries, suggesting that there is far more potential for intra-African investment.
As African governments work to improve the investment environment and market conditions in their countries, they will no doubt find investor interest not only from G20 countries, but also from other parts of the continent.
Allow me to conclude by thanking Chancellor Merkel and her government, and the German business community, for their steadfast commitment to ensuring that this ground-breaking initiative succeeds.
I thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency of The Republic of South Africa
Pretoria
http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/
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