11th South African-German Bi-national Commission

The South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor on Tuesday, 27 June 2023, hosted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ms Annalena Baerbock for the 11th Meeting of South Africa–Germany Bi-National Commission.

The Bi-National Commission (BNC), agreed upon in 1996, is a high-level governmental dialogue that covers areas of mutual interest, such as Foreign and Security Policy, Economy, Energy, Environment and Climate, Development Cooperation, Agriculture, Science and Technology, Arts and Culture and Labour, Social Affairs and Vocational Training.

Dr Naledi Pandor: “Our relationship with Germany is one of the most important and most strategic that we have with any country and our Bi-National Commission one of the most substantive that we have. It is not difficult to see why that is so.”

Germany is South Africa’s second biggest bilateral trading partner; meanwhile, with trade worth more than 20 billion euro, South Africa is Germany’s most important trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa is the only African member of the G20 and is chairing the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in 2023. One significant initiative is the Compact with Africa (CwA). Its aim is to improve business conditions in participating countries and contribute to greater private investment.

Over 600 German companies operating in South Africa have invested more than 6.2 billion euro there and employ a total workforce of nearly 100,000. Almost as many jobs again are created indirectly by German companies.

Development cooperation covers the fields of climate and energy, just transition with a focus on renewable energies and energy efficiency; economic development, training and employment with a focus on technical and vocational education and training; peaceful and inclusive societies with a focus on good governance and peacebuilding and conflict prevention as well as health, pandemics and One Health with a focus on vaccine distribution and production and support for the vaccine campaign in South Africa. South Africa has received funding of approximately 2.75 billion euro since 1994. A total of 355 million euro was pledged in October 2022 as part of governmental negotiations.

Ms. Annalena Baerbock: “… we can only address our global challenges together. That concerns the fight against pandemics. But it also concerns the biggest security challenge of our time, the climate crisis. I am glad that we are working closely together on how to move from fossil energies to green energies.”

The development cooperation working group met prior to the binational commission and agreed that economic development can only be successful and help create a prosperous society if there is a conducive environment for investment and if growth is inclusive. They also agreed that vocational training and skills development for employment promotion are vital to a country's sustainable development. Germany is willing to further support the Government of South Africa in its efforts to foster economic development, and to help reconcile economic, environmental, and social needs, as envisaged in the 2030 Agenda.

The German side emphasised that gender equality and the realisation of women's rights are explicit goals of German development cooperation and of great importance for all countries. Gender equality and the strengthening of women's rights are a key factor in achieving the entire 2030 Agenda. It is only through the equal participation of women and girls in the development process that a fair and inclusive society can be developed. Both sides agreed that gender equality, the realisation of women's rights and the prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls are important prerequisites to a country's sustainable development.

South Africa is facing a massive energy crisis that is bringing power cuts of up to twelve hours a day for the people in the country. In order to overcome this crisis, President Ramaphosa’s Government wants to step up investment in renewable energies. The South African Government once more emphatically reaffirmed this commitment at the beginning of this year. Because renewable energies are not only climate-neutral, but also the fastest and cheapest way to create new energy sources. Germany and other G7 partners are supporting South Africa in these endeavours within the framework of a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). The main aim of this cooperation is to transform the electricity sector, 85% currently based on coal.

Ms. Annalena Baerbock: “… we have to make sure that no one is left behind by this big transformation – that those working in the coal mining sector today will also be able to provide for their families in the future: through jobs in renewables, but also in other sectors, as you have mentioned, for example, in the automotive sector.

#Germany #SouthAfrica #BilateralCooperation #DevelopmentCooperation #EconomicCooperation #BinationalCommission