The European Union has entered into a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership with South Africa, an agreement designed to drive ‘mutually beneficial trade, investment and job creation while supporting decarbonisation and clean supply chains’, the EU said in a statement.
The partnership, which was signed ahead of the G20 Summit in South Africa, will create new investment opportunities for companies and strengthen access to raw materials, the bloc said, while in South Africa it will support industrial growth, local job creation and decarbonisation.
The partnership will also focus on the development of clean supply chains in areas such as renewable energy, electricity grids, clean fuels, raw materials, and related technologies.
Elsewhere, the EU and South Africa have also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on sustainable minerals and metals value chains, following recent agreements, with Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia.
The partnership will seek to ‘jointly develop industrial projects of common interest’ in areas such as the exploration, extraction, refining and recycling of minerals and metals.
‘A landmark year’
“2025 has already been a landmark year for EU–South Africa relations, and today we are taking it even further by signing the first-ever Clean Trade and Investment Partnership,” commented European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“This new, dynamic form of trade agreement brings together competitiveness and climate action. We are stepping up mutually beneficial cooperation in the clean economy and on critical raw materials. And we are hosting the final pledging event of our ‘Scaling Up Renewables for Africa’ campaign to help power a clean future for the continent.”
The announcements follow a series of high-level meetings between the EU and South Africa throughout 2025. Following the G20 Summit, Presidents von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa will travel to Angola for the first EU–African Union Summit.
‘A significant step forward’
Elsewhere, Stéphane Séjourné, executive vice-president for prosperity and industrial strategy, added that in an “increasingly unstable geopolitical environment, Europe aims to secure its supply chain of critical raw materials and diversify our sources. In this regard, cooperation between like-minded and trusted partners is key, and South Africa is a natural ally.
“The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding is a significant step toward greater European engagement with South Africa’s raw materials sector, and I hope it will encourage projects from the country to apply for the second call for European CRM strategic projects.” Read more here.
