Online Reporter
Rutendo Nyeve, Victoria Falls Reporter
SOUTH Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, has called for a deepened partnership between the African and Nordic blocs to achieve shared prosperity and regional integration
The Minister said placing the actualisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the bridging of the global innovation divide at the top of the international agenda.
Minister Lamona said this while speaking during the 22nd Africa-Nordic Foreign Ministers Meeting on Friday, leveraging South Africa’s current presidency of the G20.
“South Africa, firstly, we are looking to build on the partnership that already exists with the Nordic countries and the African continent to partner to ensure that the Africa Free Trade Area becomes a reality,” he said.
He positioned the AfCFTA as the cornerstone for Africa’s economic transformation, emphasizing the critical need for investment in infrastructure to power innovation.
However, Minister Lamola outlined a vision that extends beyond traditional development aid, focusing on Africa’s strategic role in shaping global multilateral frameworks.
“It is against this background that we have put this as areas of focus in our G20 presidency,” he said.
Minister Lamona detailed a comprehensive G20 agenda that includes strengthening disaster resilience, ensuring debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a just energy transition, and enhancing the role of critical minerals.
Minister Lamola denounced the continent’s current peripheral role in Artificial Intelligence.
“We are only looking at consuming the artificial intelligence, but not real much investment in terms of innovation,” he said.
He said South Africa has placed AI innovation into the main agenda of the G20 to ensure it becomes a central pillar of global cooperation.
Citing Africa’s youthful population as an untapped resource, Lamola argued that the continent holds the key to powering the next wave of AI development.
He linked this potential directly to the success of the AfCFTA.
“All this will not succeed if our flagship programme of the AfCFTA becomes a reality because our success should be the success of Algeria, of Nigeria, of all countries in the continent,” he said.
Minister Lamola said the Africa-Nordic dialogue is a vital platform to enable regional integration and create the economic enablers necessary for a shared and prosperous future, firmly anchoring Africa’s priorities within the broader G20 discourse.
