Ramaphosa says European countries have a responsibility to support Africa's development

JOHANNESBURG - After many years of pillaging Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa says European countries now have a responsibility to support the continent's development.

Earlier on Friday, Ramaphosa hosted the president of the Federal Republic of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen, for a working visit in Pretoria.

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Among the items on the agenda was Austria’s Africa strategy, which seeks to expand the country’s trade and economic influence on the continent.

Ramaphosa said that this should be done on a mutually beneficial scale and no longer through a colonial lens.

"Because most of Europe really made the great leaps of advancement due to the extraction of resources from the African continent, I do believe it behoves on Europe to now participate in the process of development on the African continent and have a similar enthusiasm that I guess they had in the past but this time to trade, invest and develop the African continent in a number of exciting sectors."