Ramaphosa woos Musk, trumpets trade with the US

President Cyril Ramaphosa met with South African-born US billionaire Elon Musk – the co-founder of Tesla Motors, founder of SpaceX, and owner of X (formerly Twitter) – in New York on Monday, trying to woo Musk and United States (US) businesses into investing in the ‘GNU’ South Africa.

The SABC’s US and United Nations bureau chief Sherwin Bryce-Pease first posted pictures of Ramaphosa’s meeting with Musk on X, saying the meeting in the Big Apple was “to talk investment in SA after a day focused entirely on FDI [foreign direct investment] and engagement with dozens of business leaders”.

Ramaphosa, who not so coincidentally sported a red tie during the Musk meet, is leading a delegation in the US this week, along with Trade and Industry Minister Parks Tau and other government officials.

His meeting with Musk also comes at a time when the SA government is looking at possibly opening up the market for Tesla’s Starlink business to enter SA.

Ramaphosa and Tau will no doubt also have spoken to Musk about the possibility of even setting up a Tesla Motors plant in SA.

The president’s investment charm offensive comes as the US is deciding whether to extend the country’s participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) trade deal and ahead of South Africa’s hosting of the G20 summit next year.

Agoa provides eligible sub-Saharan African countries (including SA currently) with duty-free access to the US market for over 1 800 products. The G20 is a grouping of some of the world’s major economies, including the likes of the US, UK, Germany, China, France, Brazil, the European Union and, more recently, the African Union.

Earlier on Monday, Ramaphosa and Tau – together with Minister of International Relations Ronald Lamola – met executives at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and business bodies such as the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU).

Speaking at the BCIU event, Ramaphosa highlighted SA’s JSE- and NYSE-listed petrochemicals giant Sasol as a leader in green hydrogen technologies.

“As the global automotive industry moves towards electric vehicles [EV] and new energy vehicles, we are leveraging our rich experience with automotive production to get some of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers with a footprint in South Africa to produce more of their green vehicles in our country,” he said.

China visit

The US trade visit comes just three weeks after Ramaphosa undertook a similar trade and state visit to China in early September. Tau also attended, together with other key ministers.

Following that visit, Tau confirmed that government officials held talks with Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD Co about investing in SA.

Bloomberg reported that Tau touted SA’s extensive car-production experience and its access to key resources such as lithium and manganese, which are key to battery making.

During his visit and address to the NYSE on Monday, Ramaphosa had the opportunity to ring the closing bell of the NYSE – the largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalisation.

SA President Cyril Ramaphosa ringing the closing bell of the NYSE on Monday, 23 September, with officials, including Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE (in the white jacket), looking on. Image: NYSE

Ramaphosa told business leaders at the South Africa/USA Business Forum, hosted by the NYSE, that the country “intends to stay the course” on its structural economic reform process, scaling up investment in key infrastructure, and improving the business operating environment.

He said government efforts to promote SA as a favourable investment destination are yielding positive benefits.

“In 2018 we set ourselves a target of attracting R1.2 trillion or approximately US$63.6 billion in investment over a five-year period. Last year we achieved our target ahead of schedule,” added Ramaphosa.

He said these investments have been broad in scope and are in several key economic sectors, including mining, manufacturing, ICT, agriculture, automotive, infrastructure development, and the digital economy.

“A significant proportion of these investments have been in energy, notably renewable energy,” he noted.

“We have announced a new target of approximately R2 trillion or approximately US$100 billion over the next five-year period up to 2028,” said Ramaphosa.

“The far-reaching structural reforms we have implemented over the past six years have opened up the country to increased levels of investment that continues to grow …,” he added.

“With substantial reserves of critical energy transition minerals, we are positioning ourselves to be at the forefront of the green energy revolution.

“As the country with the world’s largest platinum group metal reserves, we have a competitive advantage when it comes to the production of sustainable energy technologies, including EVs, new energy vehicles and renewable energy components,” Ramaphosa reiterated.

The trade mission is Ramaphosa’s first visit to the US since the establishment of SA’s new government of national unity (GNU) in July, after the 2024 elections.

The US goes to the polls in November, with Republican candidate Donald Trump taking on the Democratic Party’s Kamala Harris.

With Trump’s tough talk around trade barriers (duties) for exports into the US, there are fears SA could be excluded from the new Agoa deal in 2025.

Whether Trump or Harris wins, Ramaphosa and Tau will want to secure SA’s continued enjoyment of Agoa trade benefits, as well as the future US president’s attendance at the G20 summit in SA next year. – ”’  bbc.com