King Charles III hosts first state visit for South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa

On November 22, UK's King Charles III will host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at Buckingham Palace marking his first interaction with a foreign State leader since his accession to the British throne. He has played a role in many of the recent official visits by the 112 foreign heads of state during his mother Queen Elizabeth II was on the throne for record-breaking 7 decades. Now, he will roll out the traditional pomp and ceremony for the first time under his reign. 

King Charles III hosts a state visit 

The last visit was hosted by the Queen in 2019 when former president Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump visited the UK. Cyril Ramaphosa and his wife arrived on November 21 and will officially be welcomed by King Charles's eldest son and heir Prince William and his wife Kate on the following morning that's when the official two-day trip begins. It has included the Ceremonial welcome from the king and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort where a carriage procession will move from The Mall to Buckingham Palace where a grand banquet will be held in his honour.

Ramaphosa also planned a visit to Westminster Abbey to pay tribute at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and see the memorial stone for former South African President Nelson Mandela. Further, the plan is to address politicians in Parliament and meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. During this two-day visit, Trade between the two will also be on the agenda as South Africa is the continent’s second-largest economy with trade worth $13 billion a year. The next phase of the UK-South Africa Infrastructure Partnership will be launched which will unlock export finance opportunities for British entrepreneurs to invest and trade.

The focus areas of the meeting will be South Africa’s economic growth, offering increased access to UK companies to various projects and infrastructure developments in the coming next three years. A new grant-funded technical assistance to South Africa to help unlock green hydrogen opportunities and boost skills in the sector has been issued by the UK government. Ahead of the meeting UK PM Rishi Sunak said, "I look forward to welcoming President Ramaphosa to London this week to discuss how we can deepen the partnership between our two great nations and capitalise on shared opportunities, from trade and tourism and security and defence."