President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the keynote address during the official opening of the First Ordinary Session of the Seventh Parliament of the Pan-African Parliament held at its headquarters in Midrand, Gauteng.
President Cyril Ramaphosa championed the idea of continent-wide free trade as the most powerful instrument to realise the goal of African unity and explained the recent repatriations that have taken place during his address at the First Ordinary Session of the 7th Pan-African Parliament.
The session, convened by the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) until Friday, is being held under the African Union's 2026 Theme: “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063”.
This follows the successful election of the new PAP Bureau on April 30, 2026, marking the commencement of a new parliamentary term.
He started off his address praising the continental collective for banding together during the Covid-19 pandemic, which he said has strengthened their resolve to better coordinate future pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.
