The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor, arrives in Washington DC, United States of America, this morning (GMT – 5) to lead a South African Delegation to the Second United States-Africa Leaders’ Summit, scheduled to take place, started, yesterday, 13 – 15 December 2022.
Minister Pandor represents President Ramaphosa, who, owing to a very busy schedule, couldn’t travel to the Summit.
The last US – Africa Leaders’ Summit was convened in 2014 under former President Barrack Obama.
Forty-nine (49) African states and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission are participating in the Summit. The renewal of the US – Africa Leaders’ Summit follows President Biden’s intervention during the 34th Summit of the AU, in February 2021, wherein he underscored the US “commitment and readiness to partner with the Continent in taking the relations to new heights.”
The Leaders’ Summit will discuss three thematic topics, namely, Partnering on Agenda 2063, Multilateral Partnerships with Africa to Meet Global Challenges, and Promoting Food Security and Food Systems Resilience on 15 December 2022. Minister Pandor will deliver remarks on the first topic, i.e., Partnering on Agenda 2063.
Other events of the Summit include the “African and Diaspora Young Leaders Forum” held under the theme – Amplifying Voices: Building Partnerships that Last. The second event is “Peace, Security and Governance Forum, under the theme – Delivering Democracy and Security Dividends and lastly, Conservation, Climate Adaptation, and a Just Energy Transition under the theme – Building Our Green Energy Together. All these will take place on Tuesday, 13 December 2022.
Today, Wednesday, 14 December 2022, will start with the “US – Africa Business Breakfast Meeting, followed by the inauguration of the US – Africa Business Forum and discussions on various topics, which include “Charting the Course: The Future of US – Africa Trade Investment Relation; Growing Agribusiness: Partnerships to strengthen Food Security and Value Chain and Advancing Digital Connectivity: Partnerships to Enable Inclusive Growth Through Technology.
President Joseph Biden will deliver the keynote address in the afternoon.
Minister Pandor is accompanied by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mr Ebrahim Patel and senior officials from the Departments of Higher Education, Science and Innovation; and Defence and Military Veterans.
Apart from attending and participating in the above-mentioned events, Minister Pandor is expected to have a bilateral meeting with some of her counterparts and leading captains of businesses.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
