South Africa and Germany agreed to work together in several areas, including the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), green hydrogen and battery value chains.
Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s Foreign Minister, met with his German counterpart Dr. Johann Wadephul, on Monday, in a Ministerial Meeting of the 12th SA-Germany Bi-National Commission (BNC), in Berlin.
Germany advanced its support for South Africa within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with a new climate-related concessional loan worth 200 million euro and technical cooperation to accelerate grid and renewables investments.
The two countries also extended cooperation on green hydrogen and battery value chains, critical raw materials, vaccine production, deepening their science and technology partnership through new flagship initiatives in the just energy transition, artificial intelligence, quantum research and cybersecurity.
They also reaffirmed their support for the mobilisation of private capital for peace-positive investments in fragile contexts with a focus on Africa, including through Germany’s Investing For Peace Initiative (I4P), and launched discussions on the possibility of setting up a regional secretariat in South Africa.
The cooperation also extends to arts, culture and education, trade and investment cooperation, trade in animal products, vocational and educational training (VET) cooperation, climate action, biodiversity and ocean protection.
Picture: Katlholo Maifadi