French President Emmanuel Macron pledged deeper cooperation with South Africa to shape a “fairer and more inclusive” global order during a phone call with President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday. Macron said their talks came just months before the G20 Summit, where South Africa will play a leading role as chair.
He stressed that France, which will host the G7 in 2026, seeks to chart a joint roadmap for stronger multilateral governance. Both leaders also addressed pressing international crises, including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and instability in Africa’s Great Lakes region.
Their conversation also focused on bilateral cooperation, with Macron noting shared ambitions to expand economic and political ties between Paris and Pretoria. Macron said he and Ramaphosa agreed to maintain close dialogue ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in September.
He added that they will continue consultations to strengthen coordination on major international issues where both countries have overlapping interests. Separately, Macron spoke with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to discuss expanding strategic cooperation following recent high-level visits between the two nations.
The French leader highlighted Kazakhstan’s importance in transportation and energy, saying new opportunities for partnership are emerging in both sectors. He recalled his own trip to Kazakhstan in November 2023 and Tokayev’s state visit to France later that year.
According to Macron, those exchanges laid the foundation for a more ambitious partnership aimed at strengthening Eurasian-European connectivity. The discussions, taking place amid global upheaval, reflect Macron’s attempt to balance diplomacy across continents ahead of key multilateral gatherings.
With South Africa, France seeks to reinforce bonds with an influential African power shaping the G20 agenda. With Kazakhstan, Paris is pursuing deeper ties in Central Asia, a region increasingly vital to global trade and energy routes.
