Investment Before Foreign Aid, Ramaphosa Appeals at Africa Summit in UK

Riyaz Patel

It has been proven that investors who have invested in Africa earn handsome returns, President Cyril Ramaphosa told decision-makers, financiers, investors at the FT Africa Summit in London.

Delivering the keynote address at the gathering which included development partners from Africa and across the world, he said the continent is ready for the great leap forward in “displaying its innovative talent and capability and catapulting itself to greater heights of human development.”

Ramaphosa drew a parallel between the Maastricht Treaty and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“Just as the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 represented a new era of European cooperation and integration, the African Continental Free Trade Area is the realisation of the dream of the founders of the Organisation of African Unity 56 years ago.”

AfCFTA brings together 54 nations of some 1.2 billion people into a single market, with a combined