King Charles hosts Ramaphosa for first state visit

STORY: Britain's King Charles welcomed South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday (November 22).

This is the first time Charles has hosted a state visit since becoming the UK monarch in September.

Ramaphosa - who leads Britain's biggest trading partner in Africa - was greeted with the traditional pomp and ceremony.

That included gun salutes before a grand carriage procession to the palace.

Britain hopes the visit, which had been planned before the death of Queen Elizabeth, will strengthen trade and investment ties between the two nations.

It is also aimed at showing the importance of links with the Commonwealth of Nations, the international organization which Charles now heads.

British Foreign Secretar the continent."

"This is a reinforcement of the strong bilateral relationship with have with South Africa, a real opportunity to build on that close working relationship and discuss some of the issues that effect us all: climate change, food security, energy security..."

The state visit is the first to the UK by a world leader since that of former U.S. President Donald Trump and his wife Melania in 2019.

The last state visit to Britain by a South African leader was that of President Jacob Zuma in 2010.