President Cyril Ramaphosa says Africa will never prosper if it continues to export raw materials and rely on factories far from its shores for finished goods and advanced services.
Speaking at the 2025 Liberation Movements Summit in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa said instead of exporting rock, sand, and soil, the continent should be producing and exporting the finished products the world needs.
The summit was attended by representatives from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Angola, and SA.
'We must process, build and produce all that we need here on the African continent. This calls on us to invest in infrastructure that extends beyond national boundaries, to build a region that is both physically and economically integrated,' he said.
Ramaphosa said liberation movements from southern Africa needed to acknowledge that many of the threats they faced were internal.