Today, Thursday 28 May 2015, the British High Commission in Pretoria will announce their 2015/16 round of UK Prosperity Fund projects. The event will also celebrate the successes of the previous year’s projects.

The Prosperity Fund is the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s dedicated annual fund supporting prosperity work overseas. Through targeted projects, it aims to support South Africa’s development by fostering the conditions for global growth. Opportunity, openness and sustainability are core objectives for the Fund.

In 2014, the R12 million (£700,000) per year fund supported 12 projects across South Africa focused on education, science and innovation, governance, trade, investment, extractives and climate change and energy.

Projects for the coming year fall under climate change and energy, education, economics and trade, illegal wildlife trade and science and innovation. They include supporting the development of the Indian Ocean’s ‘blue economy’, the education programme of the Bloodhound Supersonic Car project, promoting best practices in public-private partnerships in the Southern Africa region and a joint project between Google, the British Council and Livity Africa to deliver scarce digital skills and increase the employability of young South Africans.