Brussels – Perhaps due to the start of the trade war with Washington—in addition to the clear cut in relations with Russia that has developed over the last three years—the European Union continues to shore up new agreements with its partners worldwide. Today (March 13), at the eighth EU-South Africa summit in Cape Town, top leaders of European institutions and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa launched talks on an all-new agreement: the first “Clean Trade and Investment Partnership”.
Brussels and Johannesburg already trade about €50 billion worth of goods annually, and “98 per cent is already duty-free,” stressed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. To accompany this “new chapter” in relations with South Africa, the EU leader also announced that the EU will mobilise through Global Gateway an investment package worth €4.7 billion, the bulk of which—about €4.4 billion—will be invested in projects supporting a “clean and just energy transition” in the far southern country. Another €700 million will fund the scaling up of vaccine production in South Africa to achieve the goal, reiterated in the joint statement on the summit’s sidelines, that the African Union should produce more than 60 per cent of the vaccines needed for the African population.
On the other hand, the agreement on “clean tech” is yet to be written. However, it will focus on investment, transition to clean energy, skills and technology, and the development of strategic industries along the entire supply chain, not forgetting cooperation on critical raw materials. “We are here to invest along the entire value chain, from exploration to recycling. And we want to work together on the key industry of the future. I mentioned green hydrogen, but also, of course, electric vehicles and battery production,” the EU leader listed.
“The motivation is simple,” explained von der Leyen speaking at the summit, “the South African economy is growing in size and complexity, and you have the ambition to create more added value here in the country. A mutually beneficial agreement, with the European Union wanting to push and exploit South Africa’s potential to “become a global leader” in the production of clean energy, “from wind to sun,” but also of “key raw materials for electrolyzers, including 91 per cent of the world’s reserves of platinum group metals,” von der Leyen pointed out.
The plan would be to sign a Memorandum of Understanding given the agreement already on the sidelines of the South African G20 next November. From G20 to G20: As the European Commission points out, the agreement should be read in the context of the Scaling up Renewables in Africa campaign launched by von der Leyen and Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rio a few months ago.
Also present in Cape Town was Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, who insisted on regional cooperation and the defense of multilateralism. “In these turbulent times trusted partnerships are more important than ever,” Costa said, assuring that “the European Union is and will remain a strong and trusted partner for South Africa.” According to the EU leader, Brussels and Johannesburg share a commitment to “strong multilateral institutions and a rules-based global order.” In the summit’s final declaration, the two partners “agreed that, guided by these principles, we support a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other major wars and conflicts around the world.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
