Thank you, Mr President, for your welcome and thank you for hosting me and my delegates here today. It’s a pleasure to see you again after your very good visit to London in April.

This is my first time in South Africa, indeed my first visit to Africa as Prime Minister. I’m delighted to be beginning my trip here with you in Cape Town, where of course Nelson Mandela gave his first speech after walking free from prison, standing with you on the balcony of City Hall 28 years ago.

I was honoured today to handover to you and to the people of South Africa the ship’s bell from the SS Mendi, and to commemorate the troops who lost their lives when the ship sank in the English Channel over a century ago, on their way to join the Allied Forces on the Western Front. And we will be forever grateful for their sacrifice in a common cause.

The historical links between us are hugely important. But our partnership today should be based on more.

The UK and South Africa enjoy a broad and forward-looking relationship, and we have committed today to reinvigorating it for the future.

Trade and Investment

We want to build on the strong foundation of our economic relationship to ensure the prosperity and security of our people.

The UK is one of South Africa’s largest trading partners – with our trade worth over £9 billion last year.

And we have agreed that – as the UK prepares to leave the EU – we must think about how to grow that trade in the future.

So today, as we’ve just witnessed, we have signed a Joint Statement with South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini to ensure the provisions of the region’s current trade deal with the EU continue after this agreement no longer applies to the United Kingdom.

This important step will provide the strong foundations on which we can build a closer trade and investment partnership in the future that brings even greater benefits for both sides.

The UK has long been the biggest investor in South Africa, and is the second biggest investor across Africa.

And as I said in my speech today, my ambition is for the UK to be the number one G7 investor in Africa by 2022.

As we discussed in London, the UK fully supports your drive, Mr President, to attract more investment to South Africa so as to create jobs and economic growth.

And I want to see British companies play a central role in helping you achieve your ambitions, helping create and sustain high quality jobs for the people of both our countries.

I’m sure this is something we will discuss further at our investment roundtable this afternoon with some of the British firms who are travelling with me this week.

Science and Innovation

The UK’s plan for jobs and growth is set out in our modern industrial strategy. That strategy has science, research and innovation at its heart and these themes are also a central part of our bilateral partnership.

Our world-class academics and researchers are collaborating at the cutting edge of scientific discovery to help solve shared problems, save lives, and shape a better world for our people.

We are partnering with you to train the next generation of South African scientists, and we will make more scholarships available for the brightest and best African students at world-class British universities – to support the continent’s talented future leaders and decision-makers as they develop their skills and careers.

Shared security

I look forward to discussing international issues with the President over lunch – in particular how we can work together to uphold the rules based international order as South Africa prepares to join the UN Security Council next year

So thank you again, Mr President, for the warm welcome you have given me today and for the productive discussions we’ve had.

We want to be South Africa’s partner as we deliver the better lives that our citizens aspire to and deserve. I look forward to continuing to work with you in the years ahead to deepen our friendship and to achieve our shared ambitions.

Headquartered in Belfast, Devenish develops sustainable and innovative animal nutrition products and solutions for the feed industry, the food industry and for human health, trading in over 40 countries around the world.

29 senior business leaders from across the country will be representing the very best of British business in technology, infrastructure and financial and professional services.

Visiting South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya over the course of the trip, they will meet with leading businesses, policy makers and entrepreneurs in order to build new investment, trading and export ties between the UK and these emerging markets.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Karen Bradley MP said:

I’m delighted Devenish is joining the Prime Minister on her trade visit to Africa. It is vital that Northern Ireland industry is represented as the United Kingdom seeks to develop new trading links across the world.

Devenish, who have sold to over 40 countries worldwide and operate at the very cutting edge of food science and animal nutrition, is a fitting choice to showcase the innovation and expertise NI companies can offer future trading partners in Africa.

Richard Kennedy, Group CEO of Devenish said:

I am delighted to join the Prime Minister’s visit to Africa, a continent which represents significant opportunity for Devenish. We already have a presence in Africa which we are focused on growing, organically and through acquisition. It is important for us as both exporters and potential investors to build strong relations on the ground and this trade mission is a valuable opportunity to do so.

For Devenish, when moving into a new market, it is crucial that we have sustainable agricultural systems in place which are appropriate to the region from the very start. This trade mission will allow us to forge significant relations that will help us in our future endeavours.

With over 60 years of experience in the industry and more than 450 employees worldwide, Devenish’s strong focus on research and development has seen them remain at the cutting edge of innovation in animal nutrition and sustainable farming systems.

The visit will allow Devenish to build on its relationships with partners in Africa and explore further opportunities for growth, delivering sustainable solutions for farming businesses overseas.

Africa is developing fast; more than half of the anticipated growth in global population between now and 2050 is expected to occur in Africa, and according to the International Monetary Fund, African economies are amongst the fastest growing in the world, making it a significant trading and investment partner for the UK.

During the visit, the Prime Minister will set out how new partnerships between the UK and Africa can add value to the UK economy, create new market opportunities for British businesses, and boost jobs and prosperity for the benefit of all.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

Devenish is an excellent example of the kind of forward-thinking company which is driving economic growth and prosperity both here in the UK and overseas.

I am pleased that they are joining me on this visit to Africa, where their strengths in innovation and technology are representative of the unique offer which the UK holds for growing markets across the continent.

Aid experts at the Department for International Development (DFID) have teamed up with the Met Office, NASA and US scientists to use for the first time a world-leading approach to accurately predict where and when cholera will spread.

Cholera Prevention in Yemen

US scientists, working with NASA satellite data, have developed a model to predict where cholera is most at risk of spreading with an impressive 92 per cent accuracy in Yemen. UK aid is turning this from theory to reality, using these predictions and Met Office forecasting to give aid workers on the ground in Yemen the information they need to respond to cholera outbreaks quicker than ever before.

DFID is helping to prevent the deadly disease spreading any further by working with UNICEF to target the delivery of vital support to areas predicted to be at greatest risk. This includes:

• promoting good hygiene to prevent people falling ill in the first place;
• stock-piling hygiene kits, jerry cans and chlorine to clean water in advance of an outbreak;
• providing cholera treatment kits, rehydration salts, zinc supplements and intravenous fluid packs to treat people that have fallen ill; and
• providing medical equipment for hospitals and clinics, such as cholera beds.

DFID Chief Scientist Professor Charlotte Watts said:

The conflict in Yemen is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with millions of people at risk of deadly but preventable diseases such as cholera.

By connecting science and international expertise with the humanitarian response on the ground, we have for the very first time used sophisticated predictions of where the risk of cholera is highest to help aid workers save lives and prevent needless suffering for thousands of Yemenis before it’s too late.

This breakthrough means that we no longer need to wait for cases of cholera to be detected before medical staff can start taking life-saving actions.

Met Office Head of International Development Helen Bye said:

Through our collaboration with DFID we are able to be part of this ground breaking approach to take early action against cholera, a waterborne disease, contracted through consuming contaminated water.

Met Office meteorologists are able to translate our global modelling and scientific expertise to show where rain has fallen and where it will fall. We then provide weekly tailored guidance to DFID and humanitarian agencies including UNICEF to inform their life saving actions.

Aid experts at DFID began using this data to work with UNICEF to prevent the spread of the disease in March 2018, ahead of the rainy season. Last year, Yemen suffered the worst cholera outbreak in living memory with more than 1 million suspected cases.

There has not been a significant outbreak in cholera so far this year, with the number of suspected cholera cases significantly lower than last year. For example, during the last week of June this year there were 2,597 suspected cases and 3 deaths, down from 50,825 suspected cases and 179 deaths at the same time last year.

Despite the predicted risk of cholera in Ibb – a governorate on the frontline of the conflict – being just as high this year as last year, there were only 672 suspected cases of cholera in July 2018 compared to 13,659 in July 2017.

There are a number of other factors that could have contributed to a lower number of suspected cholera cases this year, including a later rainy season, greater immunity against cholera and a change in national guidance for the recording of suspected cholera cases. However, the new actions taken as a result of the predictions are helping to save lives and reduce suffering.

This new approach is all the more important as the new guidance for recording suspected cholera cases in Yemen may make it more difficult to detect early outbreaks of cholera. Acting early and being able to target high-risk areas is critical.

UNICEF Yemen Representative Meritxell Relaño said:

The information on rainfall assessments supports the early warning on high risk areas for cholera outbreak. This enables UNICEF and partners to refine and focus our efforts on preparedness and timely response to cholera which has affected the lives of many children in Yemen.

These rainfall predictions have helped ensure that crucial preventive and response measures are in place where they will be most needed, including agreements with implementing partners on the ground, prepositioning of essential supplies, disinfection of water sources and deployment of community volunteers to engage households and communities on preventive hygiene behaviours including, safe water storage. As a result of this support and our other preparedness and response work, we have been able to avoid a resurgence of cholera on the scale seen in 2017.

The Met Office’s supercomputer in Exeter makes 14 thousand trillion calculations per second allowing it to take in 215 billion weather observations from across the world every day, which are used as a starting point for UK and global weather forecasts. In Yemen, high-resolution models are used to forecast out to six days, providing UNICEF accurate and critical intelligence as they identify areas most at risk.

These forecasts have been used to improve a predictive model that was developed by scientists at two universities in the United States – West Virginia University and the University of Maryland.

The forecast produced by the Met Office and the predictions produced by the US scientists are then shared with UNICEF and other aid so they can see which neighbourhoods, schools and hospitals will be at greatest risk, helping them to target their response to where support is needed most.

This breakthrough of accurately predicting where and when the disease will spread has meant that aid workers can take action before an outbreak occurs.

It is DFID’s ambition to combine the NASA data and Met Office forecasts in order to predict outbreaks eight weeks in advance – twice the current capability. This would help aid agencies plan major vaccinations campaigns ahead of outbreaks, protecting hundreds of thousands of individuals.