South African Minister of Finance, Nhlanhla Nene and German Ambassador Dr. Horst Freitag today signed five agreements totalling an amount of €414.26 million (R5.89 billion) for development cooperation between South Africa and Germany.

Development cooperation between the government of South Africa and the Federal Republic of Germany dates back to 1992. To date, the financial and technical contribution from the government of Germany to South Africa is just over R14.4 billion. This amount has gone towards empowering people, transfer of skills and building of institutional capabilities.

Over the last 20 years, bilateral cooperation has matured into a partnership, where Germany supports South African priorities. The partnership is focused on the areas of energy and climate change, good governance, which includes violence prevention and trilateral cooperation, as well as HIV and AIDS prevention.

“Germany continues to support South Africa in meeting its mid- and long-term challenges. With these new funds, we underline our will to stand by our partners in a sustainable and predictable way. South Africa is one of our most important global development partners,” said the Ambassador.

Freitag added, “Our development cooperation is an integral part of our broader cooperation in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres, bearing testimony to a successful partnership between countries of the Northern and Southern hemisphere in a changing world.”

Nene welcomed the support from the German Government and said he is looking forward to the successful implementation of the cooperation which is aligned to the priorities of South Africa as articulated in the National Development Plan.