Sunrise in Johannesburg
Copyright© Thomas Köhler/photothek.net
South Africa Global development partner with great potential
South Africa has since developed into a stable democracy. The constitution it adopted in 1997 is very progressive. It contains, among other things, a comprehensive catalogue of human rights. The country has a free media and an active civil society.
The World Bank classifies South Africa as an upper-middle-income country. Yet the country is currently ranked just 109th out of 191 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI).
COVID-19 pandemic
So far, no country in Africa has been hit as hard by the COVID-19 crisis as South Africa. A very strict lockdown that was imposed to contain this infectious disease caused massive social and economic impacts. Unemployment rose to about 35 per cent, and economic growth fell by more than six per cent in 2020. In the quarters that followed, the economy saw a short recovery, until growth decreased again when the Omicron variant hit.
German development cooperation with South Africa
The development partnership between Germany and South Africa is aimed at helping the country overcome the development challenges that still persist, especially in the areas of good governance, energy, health, vocational education and prevention of violence. The other aim of the two countries' cooperation is to support global climate action efforts and strengthen South Africa's important role for democracy, peace and stability on the African continent.
For 2021, the German government made an interim commitment of 91 million euros. Of this, 40 million euros is intended for efforts to promote the production of hydrogen (funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action); 51 million euros has been earmarked for the development of vaccine production and logistics.
South African-German development cooperation focuses on the following core areas:
- Climate and energy, just transition
Area of intervention: renewable energy and energy efficiency - Peaceful and inclusive societies
Area of intervention: good governance and prevention of violence - Sustainable economic development, training and employment
Area of intervention: Technical and vocational education and training; labour market - Cooperation outside the core areas: Health
Area of intervention: vaccine production
As at: 27/12/2022