On the second day of the state visit, Britain and South Africa reached an agreement on a health partnership

On the second day of the state visit, Britain and South Africa reached an agreement on a health partnership

On the second day of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s @CyrilRamaphosa state visit to London—the first such official guest hosted by Britain’s King Charles—Britain and South Africa announced a new health and science partnership.

Britain announced a new set of research collaborations on Wednesday, as Ramaphosa toured the Crick Institute, Europe’s largest biomedical research facility, and Kew Gardens with Charles’ brother Edward. British Foreign Minister James Cleverly @JamesCleverly stated that the collaborations will “benefit us all” in areas such as vaccine manufacturing, genome sequencing, and climate change.

James Cleverly said, “The UK and South Africa have shown global leadership in joining together to protect people by preventing the spread of dangerous diseases, and by working to halt climate change.”

Later in the day, Ramaphosa met with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and attended a UK-South Africa business forum to discuss trade and investment. South Africa is Britain’s most important African trading partner.