By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Dirco/Chrispin Phiri.
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola delivered a keynote address at the Absa and DIRCO Ambassadorial Breakfast Engagement held at The Maslow Hotel in Sandton on Friday, 7 August 2026.
The high-level engagement brought together ambassadors, government leaders and business executives to explore how stronger partnerships, trade, investment and critical minerals can accelerate Africa’s economic growth and regional integration.
Lamola in his address, welcomed policy interventions by countries including South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi to promote local value addition, highlighting that these efforts support the implementation of the African Green Minerals Strategy and the G20 Critical Minerals Framework.
“Within [the G20 last year,] intra-Africa payment systems [were highlighted] as a critical area of cooperation.”
“How we manage the promise and peril of this moment will determine whether we realise Agenda 2063’s vision of a peaceful, integrated and prosperous Africa anchored in the ideals of Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance,” Lamola said.
He also stressed that industrialisation was essential to addressing Africa’s demographic challenge, noting that while between ten-million and twenty-million young people enter the labour market each year, Africa creates only about three-million formal jobs a year.
Lamola’s remarks echoed those of ABSA Group CEO Kenny Fihla, who highlighted that Africa had reached a defining moment as growing global demand for critical minerals repositioned the continent as a strategic player in the global economy.
“Africa is at an inflection point. Global demand for critical minerals has repositioned our continent as a strategic supplier to the world but the question we must now confront more fundamentally is whether Africa can harness this moment to power its own industrialisation,” Fihla said.
He also argued that unlocking the continent’s mineral wealth would require closer collaboration between governments, finance and industry, stronger implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and greater investment in regional industrial capacity, adding that Africa’s “future competitiveness would be determined not by what it extracts, but by what it builds”.
Lamola called on business to work alongside governments to accelerate growth through mining, manufacturing and agriculture, arguing that stronger public-private partnerships would be essential to unlocking Africa’s economic potential.
He concluded by pointing out that addressing the root causes of migration, including unemployment, weak economic growth, climate change and conflict, would ultimately depend on creating more inclusive and integrated African economies capable of delivering jobs and long-term prosperity.
He warned that irregular migration, coupled with economic hardship, has the potential to increase tensions between communities if not addressed through a coordinated continental approach.
Lamola said South Africa should not be singled out when discussing migration pressures, arguing that the continent requires a broader discussion led through institutions such as the African Union
“A continental debate on migration should not be narrowed to xenophobia in South Africa, because that will just put South Africa in the dark. We need a comprehensive, wide engagement on migration, the pull and push factors, the root causes of migration, climate change, peace and stability, democracy and good governance.”
He said a broader African conversation would allow countries to address the causes of migration rather than only responding to its consequences.