The EU and South Africa have signed the first Clean Trade and Investment Partnership, building on their existing Strategic Partnership and Economic Partnership Agreement. The partnership aims to support bilateral trade and investments in clean supply chains, contributing to decarbonisation objectives and economic benefits for both sides. It seeks to diversify strategic clean supply chains, create new trade and investment opportunities, strengthen EU access to raw materials, and support South Africa’s industrialisation, local value creation, and Just Energy Transition.
The partnership will focus on renewable energy, low carbon and net-zero technologies, electricity transmission and grids, clean fuels, including sustainable transport fuels (including aviation), raw materials value chains, and climate mitigation and adaptation technologies. It will promote opportunities in clean supply chains by mobilising public and private financing, addressing trade and investment barriers, ensuring transparent access to public procurement, and facilitating investments. It will also support European Investment Bank financing under the Just Energy Transition Partnership and include a Business-to-Government Forum.
Announced in 2024 as part of the Clean Industrial Deal, the partnership provides flexible and targeted arrangements tailored to business interests and aligns engagement across trade, investment, climate, energy and development through the Global Gateway Investment Package. South Africa is the EU’s first partner under this framework and its largest investment partner in Sub-Saharan Africa, with €45 billion in trade flows in 2024 and over 40 percent of FDI from the EU. The partnership complements the existing Economic Partnership Agreement by liberalising trade in environmental goods.
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