The European Fee has highlighted that South Africa and the EU are holding the primary government-to-government dialogue at senior stage to advance the implementation of the Clear Commerce and Funding Partnership (CTIP) between the 2 governments.
This partnership goals to strengthen clear and resilient provide chains, assist native strategic industries and speed up investments in inexperienced hydrogen and important uncooked supplies.
The dialogue will deal with particular CTIP enterprise and flagship initiatives, commerce and funding facilitation measures and regulatory cooperation.
Furthermore, these efforts will prioritise the materialisation of mutual commerce and funding alternatives, together with South Africa’s enlargement of the electrical energy grid, renewable power, sustainable aviation fuels, important uncooked supplies, and inexperienced hydrogen.
The Fee notes that there’s additionally a better push to make the enterprise setting in South Africa extra clear and predictable, thereby deepening cooperation on regulatory approaches, requirements and implementation frameworks to advance the inexperienced transition.
In November 2025, the EU and South Africa signed the primary such CTIP, designed to drive mutually useful commerce, funding and job creation whereas supporting decarbonisation and clear provide chains.
In March, each events organised the primary business-to-government dialogue underneath this CTIP to assemble enterprise views and priorities for CTIP implementation.
The Fee additionally highlights that South Africa is the EU’s first CTIP associate and its largest funding associate in sub-Saharan Africa, as commerce flows stood at about 45-billion euros in 2025, and the EU is the most important investor in South Africa, representing over 40% of international direct funding.
Notably, CTIPs are a brand new coverage device introduced by European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen in 2024, with the goal of supporting the EU’s decarbonisation and competitiveness aims, as an exterior instrument of the Clear Industrial Deal.
“This new, dynamic type of commerce engagement brings collectively competitiveness and local weather motion by stepping up mutually useful cooperation within the clear economic system and on important uncooked supplies. Governments play an important function in making a conducive regulatory enterprise setting for these investments to scale and attain their full potential.
“The ambition for future developments within the clear transition is large – South Africa goals to reform its electrical energy sector and construct [about] 14 500 km of recent transmission traces within the subsequent decade. The CTIP will promote funding alternatives in clear provide chains and create mutual advantages for the EU and South Africa,” the European Fee says.
