By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
European Union (EU) on Thursday announced a new €4.7-billion ($5.1 billion) investment package for South Africa to support green energy and vaccine production.
The announcement came at the first bilateral summit between the bloc and South Africa in seven years.
The summit is part of a strategic partnership agreed between South Africa and the EU in 2007, making the country the only one on the continent with a pact of this kind with the bloc.
Summits were held every year between 2009 and 2013, but took a five-year break during the tenure of then president, Jacob Zuma, under whom South Africa joined Brics and formed closer relationships with Russia and China.
“We are presenting a new €4.7bn Global Gateway investment package for South Africa for projects that support a just energy transition, for connectivity – both physical and digital, and for vaccines, produced in Africa, for Africa,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
Today we’re taking our trade and investment relations forward. We’re launching talks on a next-generation trade deal and a clean trade and investment partnership with a focus on strategic industries – and benefits for both sides.
“€4.4bn from the Global Gateway package will go to projects supporting a clean and just energy transition in South Africa. It’s a significant first pledge in the context of the scaling up renewables in Africa campaign. I hope it will inspire many others to contribute.”
Von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke of the need to boost international cooperation during the meeting.
Ramaphosa said the investment package covered areas such as critical raw mineral processing, green hydrogen, renewable energy, transport and digital infrastructure, local vaccine and pharmaceutical production, and resources for skills development.
“To boost the competitiveness of our economies, we agreed to launch negotiations towards a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership. This will support the development of cleaner value chains for raw materials and local beneficiation, renewable and low carbon energy, and clean technology,” Ramaphosa said.
“In addition to mobilising investment, this partnership will also serve as a forum for regulatory cooperation between the European Union and South Africa in areas of mutual interest related to clean supply chains. This partnership is expected, for example, to deliver short and long term solutions to enable Sasol to export sustainable fuel, especially aviation fuel, to the European Union.”
The announcement comes just a week since the United States withdrew from South Africa’s just energy partnership.
South Africa is the EU’s largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, with €49bn worth of trade in goods in 2023.