The visits to Guinea, Ghana, and Togo, from December 4 to 6, were directed at deepening political, economic, and social relations between South Africa and sister countries, the presidency said in a statement on Saturday.

The visits also formed part of the prelude to South Africa’s assumption of the chairmanship of the African Union early in 2020, as well as the inception of the African Continental Free Trade Area in the middle of 2020.

The visits were marked by a strong focus on measures that could be taken to enhance trade, investment, infrastructure development, and the transfer of skills and technology between South Africa and the respective partner states.

In agriculture, in particular, cooperation would facilitate the transition from subsistence farming to commercially scalable cultivation and the beneficiation of agricultural products within comprehensive value chains.

South Africa and the three states would also cooperate in defence and security as part of the AU's “Silencing of the Guns” campaign, which forms part of the continent’s developmental agenda 2063 and seeks to end all forms of conflict and insecurity from politically motivated conflicts to gender-based violence, the statement said.

"The host presidents expressed their support for South Africa’s chairmanship of the AU and shared South Africa’s positive anticipation of an era of free trade across the continent."

In Guinea, Ramaphosa and President Alpha Condé "discussed wide-ranging discussions on bilateral relations as well as on regional and international issues of common interest".

They had agreed to consider developing new agreements  in various areas to promote the exchange of expertise between the two countries, the presidency said.

The presidents reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening and deepening bilateral relations by holding regular sessions of the Joint Commission of Cooperation, the third of which would be held in Conakry in 2020.

During his visit to Accra, Ghana, Ramaphosa and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo engaged on areas of cooperation in defence, security, agriculture, sports, arts and culture, and infrastructure development, among other areas.

The leaders also witnessed the signing of an agreement to establish a Bi-National Commission between the two countries, which would elevate relations to presidential level.

Akufo-Addo commended Ramaphosa for dispatching special envoys to a number of countries, including Ghana, whose nationals were affected by violence in South Africa several months ago.

Ramaphosa congratulated Akufo-Addo on Ghana's designation as the seat of the permanent secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which comes into force in 2020.

At the conclusion of his visit in Togo, Ramaphosa and President Faure Gnassingbé witnessed the signing of a cooperation framework agreement that would enable partnership in a number of fields, including agro-processing, port management, mining, and energy.

The two leaders agreed to encourage business people from South Africa and Togo to explore opportunities for trade and mutual investment, as well as the promotion of tourism between the two countries.

Addressing continental concerns, the two leaders strongly condemned continued terrorist and extremist activities in various regions of the continent.

On the three visits, Ramaphosa invited businesses in Guinea, Ghana, and Togo to identify opportunities for partnerships with South African counterparts in the interest of advancing mutual  development and growth.

African News Agency (ANA)