In 1994, the Government of Flanders opted for South Africa to become a priority partner within Flemish foreign policy. Flemish cooperation initially focused on assistance towards the building of a new, democratic South Africa, but this was subsequently extended to include development cooperation, culture, science and innovation, economy and trade, youth policy and education. On 28 October 1996 the Treaty between the Government of Flanders and the Government of the Republic of South Africa on cooperation in the fields of education, art, culture, science, technology and sport was signed, and later extended in 2002 to include all Flemish competences. Various actors became involved with this cooperation, from Flemish ministers and government departments, to scientific and tertiary institutions, non-governmental organisations, businesses and private entities.

A Flemish Trade Office in South Africa was opened in 1994. On 14 February 1999, the first General Representative of the Government of Flanders took up his function in Pretoria, serving as first point of contact between governments, government departments and other actors in Flanders and South Africa. The remit of the General Representation includes South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho. On the occasion of twenty years of cooperation between Flanders and South Africa in 2014, we published a brochure that provides an overview of the key elements of this partnership. You can find the brochure here: Eletronic Brochure.

Flanders and Mozambique have co-operated closely since 2002, when it became the second partner country of Flemish development cooperation. A Memorandum of Understanding between Flanders and Mozambique was signed in 2004.

The focus of the co-operation was health care, more specifically HIV/AIDS. In June 2006 a first Country Strategy Paper (CSP) was launched for the period 2006-2010, centered around supporting the Government of Mozambique in strengthening the health sector and in training health care workers. The overall objective of the second CSP 2011-2015 was the development and implementation of an efficient and effective health policy at national level and in Tete province. The third CSP came into operation in 2016. The health sector remains at the heart of the cooperation, with overall health system strengthening as the central concern and ambition, and an additional focus on service provision and accountability towards the realization of the right to the highest attainable standard of health of adolescents.

The Government of Flanders decided in April 2006 to choose Malawi as their third partner country for Flemish development co-operation on the basis of a comparative study between the five least developed countries of southern Africa.

The decision of the Government in favour of Malawi fits its strategy of assisting the international fight against poverty. The cooperation with Malawi is predominantly in the sectors of agriculture and food security. The Government supports programmes enabling access to agricultural extension services, facilitating access to the market, support of farmers' organisations and the right to food. Specific focus areas within the cooperation are the role and position of women in the agricultural sector and the impact of climate change on the food security of the country.