France and Germany have signed a loan agreement of €300 million concessional financing to South Africa to support the country’s efforts in reducing its reliance on coal through a just transition to cleaner energy sources.
This information was disclosed in a Press Release from the National Treasury.
It stated that; “The French and German public development banks, AFD and KfW, have provided the loans directly to the South African government via National Treasury.
“The financing agreements were acknowledged and welcomed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Olaf Scholz, the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, at a ceremony held during the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), currently taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
“The signing represents a significant milestone in the implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) announced at COP26 in November last year.”
Stating further, it said that the JETP is a long-term partnership between South Africa, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. The first initiative of its kind, the JETP aspires to support South Africa in accelerating its journey to a low-carbon economy and climate-resilient society,” said Treasury.
“Last year, the founding partners of the JETP, known as the International Partners Group (IPG), pledged to mobilize an initial amount of $8.5 billion over the next three to five years to advance the partnership”.
Speaking to the Press, Andreas Peschke, the German Ambassador to South Africa, said: “We are very happy about these agreements, as they represent a very concrete implementation of our partnership.”
South Africa continues to be dependent on coal to produce most of its electricity and the coal sector remains significant to the country’s national economy and the livelihood of several communities.
“One year ago, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged that France was ready to commit significant support for South Africa’s ambitious decarbonization project for a just energy transition. We are now putting those words into action with this important loan,” said Arnaud Roux, Chargé d’affaires of the French Embassy.
