Closing remarks by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative (PICI) Heads of State and Government Meeting

Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Ministers,
Representatives of Member States,
Ladies and gentlemen,

As we conclude our deliberations today, allow me to extend my sincere appreciation to all of you for the depth of engagement and the renewed sense of collective purpose that has defined this meeting.

Africa stands at a pivotal moment in its development journey.  

Through the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative, we are charting a course to accelerate the continent’s transformation by placing strategic infrastructure at the heart of our shared vision.  

This initiative is not simply about building roads, bridges, and energy corridors. It is about connecting our people, our economies and our aspirations.  

We need to ensure that these projects translate into tangible progress for every community, every region and every citizen. This means we need to mobilise resources and unite governments, partners and the private sector.  

Our discussions today have reaffirmed the tangible progress being made across the continent.  

The highways, bridges, corridors and cables that are being built are lifelines of trade, integration and opportunity. They represent the arteries of a modern, interconnected and competitive Africa.

This meeting has confronted the persistent challenges that continue to slow our momentum, including financing constraints, weak coordination mechanisms, limited secretariat capacity and security risks.  

These are real and pressing obstacles. But they are not insurmountable.

As we look ahead to the forthcoming African Union Summit in mid-February, our task is clear: to translate today’s reflections into a strong, coherent and actionable mandate.  

We seek a mandate that re-energises political support for the initiative, that strengthens its institutional base, and that secures the sustainable financing and partnerships necessary to deliver the next generation of transformative infrastructure.

Let us continue to ensure that PICI remains fully aligned with the AU’s Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area, so that every road we pave, every bridge we build, every data link we connect contributes directly to deeper integration, expanded trade and shared prosperity.

The spirit of unity and practical solidarity displayed here today gives us confidence that, together, we will overcome the barriers before us and accelerate Africa’s infrastructure transformation.

Let us leave this meeting not only with a report to adopt, but with a renewed conviction that Africa’s development is, and must remain, championed by Africans.  

It must be driven by our leadership, financed through our ingenuity and sustained by our shared vision for a continent that is connected in every sense.

I thank you.