South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has called on Namibia and South Africa to move beyond exporting raw materials, saying the two countries must stop “exporting opportunities while importing prosperity”.
Ramaphosa made the remarks on Friday at the fourth session of the Namibia-South Africa Bi-National Commission in Pretoria, where he hosted president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
He said Nandi-Ndaitwah’s visit reaffirmed the strong bond between the two neighbouring countries, forged during the struggle against colonialism.
“Our people stood together during colonialism, and today we continue to strengthen that shared relationship. This commission represents prosperity for our people, development and stability for our region and the African continent,” he said.
Ramaphosa said Africa is at a defining moment as the continent increasingly attracts global attention because of its vast natural resources.
He said the real challenge is not whether Africa possesses these resources, but whether it can capture greater value from them through beneficiation and industrialisation.
“Our objective should be to build regional value chains rather than exporting merely raw materials. For far too long Africa has exported opportunities while importing prosperity. We have created industries elsewhere while unemployment has remained one of our greatest challenges at home,” he said.
Ramaphosa said Africa can no longer afford a model where its resources leave its shores in their raw form.
“The days when Africa’s resources leave its shores as rocks and dust must steadily come to an end. Refining, innovation and manufacturing must happen here in southern Africa, creating jobs, value and opportunities for our people,” he said.
He highlighted the Orange Basin as one of the world’s most promising new energy frontiers, saying its development should go beyond oil and gas extraction.
According to Ramaphosa, the basin presents an opportunity to establish an integrated regional energy economy encompassing engineering, exploration, refining, logistics, maritime services and advanced manufacturing.
