Background Cooperation South Africa Germany

South Africa has come a long way since 1994 and has demonstrated extraordinary political, economic and social development. In today’s world, the reliable and trustworthy relationship between Germany and South Africa is an asset of great value. It is indeed a strategic partnership based on common goals and intense co-operation in a variety of fields, such as foreign policy, trade and investment, research and development, sports, arts and culture as well as social issues.

One of the biggest pillars of our co-operation is development policy. Ever since 1994, in this field, Germany and South Africa have been working very closely together German ‘Official Development Assistance’ (ODA) supports South Africa in many fields. The total amount of German ‘Official Development Assistance’ is approximately 660 million Euro (the equivalent of 7 billion Rand).

Within the German government, development cooperation, in large part, falls under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Every two years and in the traditional framework of “Government Negotiations on Bi-lateral Development Cooperation” (“Agreed Minutes”) new funding is committed by the BMZ in the areas of financial and technical cooperation. As a result of Germany’s latest policy dialogue with South Africa in the framework of the Bi-National Commission (BNC) which takes place bi-annually the attached minutes were concluded.