Minister for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora visits South Africa

Minister for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora, Colm Brophy, today begins a visit to South Africa. During his visit, Minister of State Brophy will co-chair the South Africa-Ireland Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) with his South African counterpart, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa, Alvin Botes. The JCC is the structured bilateral consultation mechanism between Ireland and South Africa, covering a range of areas of shared interest, from political, economic and cultural matters to science and technology, education, agriculture, and social development.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Minister Brophy said:

"I look forward to this opportunity to build on the ever-growing cooperation between Ireland and South Africa, our largest trading partner on the African continent, and to renew the strong, deep ties between our two countries as we forge a path to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Ireland and South Africa share wide ranging cooperation and a number of key multilateral priorities, and I look forward to discussing these with my South African counterpart."

Minister Brophy added:

"As Minister for Diaspora, I am particularly looking forward to meeting with the Irish community in South Africa, the largest Irish community on the African continent as well as with representatives of the many South Africans who have studied or worked in Ireland, especially alumni of the Kader Asmal Fellowship – an Irish Government Programme funded by Irish Aid, which sponsors South African postgraduates to come and study in Ireland."

During the visit, Minister Brophy will also launch the pilot Irish Tech Challenge Fund South Africa, an initiative to incentivise partnerships between Irish technology expertise and South African entrepreneurs and businesses, and meet with Irish businesses and partners with an emphasis on enhancing business links in the research area. The Minister will also have the opportunity to meet with a number of Irish community associations, who form part of the largest Irish community on the African continent.