PRETORIA
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday met with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead of the G7 leaders’ summit in Alberta.
The two leaders discussed the “strong and growing” partnership, with a focus on wildfire management cooperation, technology, trade, and investment, according to Carney’s office.
Carney and Ramaphosa, the current presidents of the G7 and G20, discussed advancing common priorities such as energy security, critical minerals, artificial intelligence (AI), and climate resilience during their respective terms.
Canada and South Africa are “leading in the face of similar challenges and opportunities,” Carney said on X.
“With the rules-based system under threat, international cooperation is more important than ever,” he added.
After Donald Trump assumed office as US president, Washington’s relations with both Canada and South Africa became strained.
Trump declared his desire to “make Canada the 51st state,” while slapping punishing tariffs on Canadian imports in what he calls a “reciprocal” trade policy.
Trump also issued an executive order in February cutting US financial assistance to South Africa, citing concerns about its land expropriation law, a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and deepening ties with Iran.
Last month, Ramaphosa met with Trump in the White House to discuss bilateral issues and trade amid heightened tensions over the US president’s controversial claims that white Afrikaner farmers are being persecuted and killed in South Africa.
Ramaphosa said his meeting with Trump was a success, and that South Africa-US relations have been reset to focus on trade amid the “turbulent geopolitical architecture.”
He said on Tuesday that he will meet with Trump again at the G7 summit in Canada.
