Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget, Housing and Immovable Heritage Matthias Diependaele visited South Africa on 23 and 24 March, accompanied by a sizeable academic delegation from Flanders, which underlined the intense cooperation and academic relations between universities in Flanders and South Africa. The signing of six new agreements between Flemish and South African academic institutions will serve to strengthen existing partnerships.

The visit also focused on Flemish investments in South Africa, the social economy and human rights and new collaborations, such as the one between VITO and CSIR on the subject of innovative solutions for the storage of renewable energy.

This visit forms part of the State Visit of the King and the Queen of the Belgians to South Africa, and follows on from Minister-President Jan Jambon’s visit to the country in April 2022. The aim of this visit was to consolidate cooperation between Flanders and South Africa in areas including the sustainable energy transition and academic and economic cooperation.