"Process Our Raw Materials, Not Just Export Them" says President Ramaphosa as he Calls for African Renaissance

SA President Cyril Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged Africa to shift its economic paradigm, emphasizing the need for the continent to process its raw materials rather than simply exporting them.

Speaking at the 2025 Liberation Movements Summit in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa stressed that Africa's prosperity depends on its ability to produce and export finished goods, rather than relying on external factories and services.

"We must process, build, and produce all that we need here on the African continent," Ramaphosa declared. "This calls on us to invest in infrastructure that extends beyond national boundaries, to build a region that is both physically and economically integrated."

The summit, attended by representatives from several southern African countries, including Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Angola, and South Africa, provided a platform for leaders to discuss pressing issues facing the continent. Ramaphosa's call for economic transformation resonated with the audience, highlighting the need for Africa to break free from its historical role as a supplier of raw materials.

However, Ramaphosa also acknowledged the internal challenges that threaten Africa's progress, particularly corruption and patronage. "For many of us, corruption and patronage have contributed to various degrees to the destruction of our social fabric, to the weakening of the state, and to the disunity of our movements," he said.

The President emphasized the need for liberation movements to recognize these internal threats and work together to address them. "We need to work together, drawing on each other's experiences, to rebuild and renew our movements," he said.

Ramaphosa also highlighted the importance of empowering the youth, stressing that they should be at the forefront of driving change. "The impatience of young people is not something that we should fear," he said. "It is to be welcomed because it signals the determination of new generations of citizens to strive for a better life, for a more just society."

He called on youth leagues to be engines of ideological clarity, economic innovation, digital activism, and organizational unity and renewal, rather than mere ceremonial wings of liberation movements.

The President also emphasized the critical role of women in Africa's development, stressing that there can be no true freedom without the liberation of women. "If girls are unable to complete school, if women cannot find decent work or run their own businesses, if they do not receive equal pay for equal work, if they are vulnerable to violence and abuse, then our freedom will not be complete and our societies will remain forever poor," he said.

Ramaphosa welcomed the comprehensive resolutions adopted at the summit, including those focused on land equity for women, reproductive rights, and mainstreaming women in leadership, trade, learning, and peace processes.

Finally, Ramaphosa condemned the weaponization of migration, calling on African leaders to reject xenophobia in all its forms. "Migration itself must not be seen as a threat," he said. "It is a consequence of underdevelopment, war, global inequality, not a moral failing of those who move in search of hope."

As the continent continues to grapple with economic and social challenges, Ramaphosa's call for an African renaissance offers a vision of hope and transformation. By processing its raw materials, empowering its youth and women, and rejecting xenophobia and corruption, Africa can build a brighter future for generations to come.