17th EU-South Africa Joint Steering Committee Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation

The 17th edition of the EU-South Africa Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC) meeting took place on 27 November 2024 in Pretoria, and was co-chaired by Mr Marc Lemaître, Director-General at Directorate General Research and Innovation of the European Commission, and Ms Gugulethu Zwane, Acting Director General of the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Republic of South Africa. Both sides exchanged updates on the status of their cooperation in science and technology in this vibrant partnership. Topics covered included, among others, the Multilateral Dialogue on values and principles in Research and Innovation (R&I), Science Diplomacy, Open Science, renewable energy, hydrogen and just green transition, marine research, bioeconomy, food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA), public health, the African Union (AU) - EU Innovation Agenda, human capacity development, South Africa’s participation in the EU’s R&I Framework Programme Horizon Europe and Global Gateway Team Europe Initiatives in South Africa. 

In light of the encouraging results achieved so far and great potential for the future, both sides agreed to enhance their R&I cooperation across multiple dimensions. They include, a wider participation of South African research institutions in Horizon Europe and in Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions already from Work Programme 2025; intensifying collaborations on Open Science, bioeconomy,  in Climate Change and Sustainable Energy, and health, through the  Global Health Joint Undertaking European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 3 (EDCPT3) . These activities will contribute to the implementation of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda.

Joint press release of the JSTCC meeting

This steering meeting took place in the context of the official visit to South Africa by Mr Marc Lemaître (23 to 27 November 2024). His mission entailed engagements with “Team Europe” and stakeholder organisations actively involved in the EU-South Africa cooperation on R&I. He met with business support organisations, start-ups, and entrepreneurs at the ENRICH in Africa Center in Cape Town, visited the biotech company Afrigen Biologics and the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub. He had meetings with several grantees of collaborative projects funded through the Biodiversa+ Partnership, the Horizon Europe Framework Programme and the EDCTP3. In addition, he made a tour of the Square Kilometre Array, the world’s largest radio telescope, developed and implemented thanks to significant international cooperation on R&I, including the EU’s Framework Programmes. The previous JSTCC meeting occurred in 2019 in Brussels.