President Cyril Ramaphosa, during an address to the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue, held in India this week, called for the bloc to direct investment towards manufacturing and beneficiation, industrial technologies, energy systems, infrastructure and logistics.
Africa must not only supply the minerals on which the next generation of industries depends, while value addition and manufacturing take place elsewhere.
“If we are to change where value is created, we must also change where investment is directed. Companies must invest not only to access markets, but also to establish production facilities and develop local capabilities,” he said.
BRICS countries were at an inflection point. With the global economy being reshaped, trade patterns shifting, technological advances accelerating and climate pressures increasing, countries and companies must reconsider where they source, produce and invest.
For the BRICS bloc, this was an opportunity to shape a more resilient, diversified and inclusive economic future for the Global South, Ramaphosa said.
