President von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa were in Cape Town, where they met South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa for the EU-South Africa Summit.
The summit marked a significant step forward in the strategic partnership between the two partners with the launch of a new a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership, and an ambitious investment initiative under Global Gateway worth €4.7 billion.
The newly-announced Global Gateway Investment Package will support notably the goals of the Just Energy Transition Partnership , the initiative launched in 2022 between South Africa, France, Germany, the UK, the US, and the EU to accelerate the decarbonisation of South Africa's economy.
The focus will be on future-oriented industries and technologies, such as batteries, renewables, and hydrogen. "We know that others are withdrawing. So here, we want to be very clear with our message: We are doubling down with our support. We are here to stay," President von der Leyen stated.
The investment package will also support the improvement of connectivity, such as the North-South Lubumbashi to Durban route, better access to fibre and 5G, and notably, South Africa's pharmaceutical industry. As the President said: "It means vaccines and medication produced in South Africa, for the people of South Africa and the wider African continent. It is in both our shared interest and in the interest of global health that we promote here the pharmaceutical industry. Because we know that diseases know no borders, so we have to join forces to fight them."
Following this summit, South Africa will also become the first country to sign with the EU a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership, a new generation of trade deal. This new type of partnership will double-down on investment opportunities, the clean energy transition, critical raw materials, skills, and developing strategic industries that create good jobs for South Africa.
President von der Leyen described the potential of the new partnership saying: "We put a lot of emphasis on what you call beneficiation. For us it is a key principle that when we invest, it's the local value chains that benefit. It's important for us that the value added stays in South Africa. You will benefit. Our companies will benefit. And I think it is a true win-win."
In addition, President von der Leyen, along with Presidents Costa and Ramaphosa took stock of the global campaign "Scaling up Renewables in Africa" , launched in the margins of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro last year.
This campaign, recently subscribed by the World Bank, will tap into the enormous potential of Africa for renewable energy. President von der Leyen said that this autumn, in the margins of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, a pledging event will take place to rally the world around this cause.
