By Mark Ogagan
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa says his recent visit to Japan has been impactful as the country seeks to deepen trade with a number of countries.
Ramaphosa took part in the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit (tagged TICAD 9), which ran from August 20 to 22, 2025.
This year’s gathering took place at a time of unprecedented threats to global peace and disruption to global trade. A number of African leaders also attended the summit.
As the world is grappling with pressing challenges, Africa and Japan strengthened their bilateral ties, especially after the US imposed sweeping tariffs on a number of countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says that despite the obstacles, this is an opportune moment to create new opportunities.
Some experts say that China has made inroads in Africa and that Japan is trying to catch up. Despite this, President Ramaphosa says Pretoria cherishes its bilateral ties with Japan, which remains an influential economy in the world.
The president further welcomed the efforts to try and end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Bilateral trade between South Africa and Japan has been expanding since the establishment of full diplomatic relations in 1992.
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