Tropics Group Condemns Xenophobia in South Africa, Relocates Summit

TROPICS GROUP OF COMPANIES FIRMLY CONDEMNS ALL FORMS OF XENOPHOBIA, AFROPHOBIA AND RACISM IN AFRICA, AND ANNOUNCES A CHANGE OF DESTINATION FOR THE 10TH EDITION OF THE TROPICS SUMMIT & COUNTRIES SHOWCASE

Brazzaville, Republic of Congo — September 22, 2026

Since the beginning of the year, Tropics Group of Companies has been closely following developments in South Africa. True to our culture of dialogue and responsibility, we deliberately chose not to react hastily, preferring to allow the situation the necessary time to evolve on institutional, security and diplomatic levels. This restraint was not indifference: it was the expression of our determination to favor dialogue and rigorous analysis before taking any position.

In the months that followed, this situation was documented by several independent institutions (Human Rights Watch, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as by South African authorities themselves), who publicly acknowledged the impact of these events on the country’s image. We take note of these findings with gravity, and with the respect owed to the complexity of a situation still under investigation in certain respects.

Today, as a pan-African conglomerate, we feel compelled to speak with clarity and firmness: we do not align, and will never align, with the currents of xenophobia, afrophobia, racism, discrimination and vigilantism that have emerged. This firm position does not, however, signify a break with South Africa, nor a withdrawal of our engagement toward that country and its people. It is, rather, a matter of taking a principled stand, measured in its consequences, and guided by our duty of responsibility toward all our partners and stakeholders across the continent, including our long-standing South African partners, whom we inform of this decision with the respect owed by nearly a decade of collaboration.

Human life is sacred. No social situation, no migration situation, is worth more than a human life. Nothing can ever justify a life being taken.

No country should tolerate violence or allow vigilantism to result in needless loss of life. No country should stray from fundamental principles of humanity. No country is more important than another.

The time for division is over. This is not the moment for Africa to tear itself apart, nor to build walls where it should be building bridges. The engine of economic prosperity and transformation on the continent rests on its entrepreneurs, its investors, cooperation among its nations and the unity of its peoples, the very values of Ubuntu. When an African country strays from these founding principles, it falls to the rest of the continent to remind it of them, firmly and responsibly.

It is in this spirit that Tropics Group of Companies has weighed, with all due rigor, the consequences of the current context on continental cooperation and on the ability of its partners to operate with full confidence and security. As a result, the Group announces its firm decision to end its promotion of South Africa as the destination for the 10th edition of the Tropics Summit & Countries Showcase.

A new host city, embodying the values of unity, cooperation, dignity and economic transformation that underpin the Tropics Summit & Countries Showcase, will be announced shortly.

“Our mission has never been to follow circumstances, but to defend the values that make Africa’s strength and economic future,” said Venicia Guinot, Director of Institutional Communications at Tropics Group of Companies. “We took the time to observe, analyze, and act with discernment. We will always choose unity over division, cooperation over isolation, and human life over any other consideration.”

Press release distributed by TROPICS MEDIA GROUP from Brazzaville, September 22, 2026.
Press contact: team@TropicsSommet.com (mandatory copy: TropicsBusinessEvents@gmail.com)