Africa takes charge of its own health security as Ramaphosa visits Kinshasa
Africa is taking its health defense into its own hands. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa landed in Kinshasa on Thursday, July 2, 2026, for an express but deeply significant working visit. The trip falls under his mandate as the African Union’s Champion for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
Welcomed on the tarmac of N’djili Airport by Prime Minister Judith Suminwa, the South African leader joined his counterpart Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi at the African Union City for a private meeting centered on a shared priority: containing the resurgence of the Ebola virus disease before it overwhelms national response capacities.
The two leaders will then visit the National Institute for Biomedical Research, the scientific heart of the Congolese response. Their goal is to assess firsthand the state of national surveillance and epidemiological research capabilities.
This field visit says it all: in the face of epidemics, podium speeches are not enough. What truly matters is what happens in the laboratories, on the ground, and at the bedsides of patients.
The presence of President Ramaphosa in Kinshasa sends a powerful message to the rest of the continent.
Africa possesses the brains, the institutions, and the political will necessary to anticipate and manage its own health crises without waiting for external aid to dictate the pace and priorities of the response.
Gilbert FOTSO
