South Africa's President Ramaphosa Meets Biden In U.S.

President Cyril Ramaphosa met President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday September 16, 2022 in a visit to Washington, DC that included a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and a reception at the South African embassy for the Congressional Black Caucus and veterans of the U.S. anti-apartheid movement.

According to a statement from the South African Presidency, the Oval Office talks focused on a range of issues, including trade and investment,energy, food security, global security, health and reform of the United Nations. Also discussed was a controversial bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that Ramaphosa said would "would unfairly marginalise and punish African countries for exercising their sovereignty."

In a pre-visit analysis by John Stremlau for The Conversation, Ramaphosa was expected to raise with Biden the consequences for Africa of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the expanding role that China plays on the continent.

"This visit presents a real opportunity for regular external monitoring and evaluation to be established at the highest levels in the strategic partnership between the two countries," Michael Walsh and Phiwokuhle Mnyandu conclude in a blog for the Council on Foreign Relations "It is an opportunity the Biden Administration cannot afford to miss."

Ramaphosa's visit follows close on the heels of the visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken whose three-nation tour of South Africa, DR Congo and Rwanda in August 2022, spelled out America's strategy on Africa.