Germany Commits Nearly R1 Billion to South Africa
"A total of €72.5 million, nearly R1 billion, were committed by Germany to the government of South Africa for development co-operation," informed embassy spokesman in that country Rainer Breul.
A further €38.5 million was promised for financial co-operation programmes and €34 million for technical co-operation programmes.
This was the agreement of a bi-national commission, chaired by Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his South African counterpart Maite Nkoane-Mashabane.
A number of other government officials, public sector leaders, representatives from civil society organizations and academia, and artists attended the talks.
A wide-ranging set of topics was discussed including the Ebola epidemic, the political situation in South Sudan, and "troubling developments in the Great Lakes region".
The countries confirmed their focus on co-operation on HIV/Aids prevention, governance and public administration, and energy and climate issues -- in particular, South Africa's transition to a green economy.
"Further co-operation will take place on the topic of introducing a national minimum wage, including an exchange of information and technical discussions," Breul said.
Johannesburg, Most Popular Destination
Johannesburg is set to be the most popular destination city in Africa for the second year, followed by Cape Town, according to the 2014 MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index.
It shows a 4, 9% increase on last year’s 4, 1 million visitors. Johannesburg also comes out top in Africa in terms of international visitor expenditure, with travellers expected to spend a substantial US$3,2 billion in 2014 (about R35,6 billion at R11,14/$), compared to US$3,06 billion last year (about R34 billion at R11,14/$).
Trailing Johannesburg by a substantial margin, Cape Town is set to be Africa’s second most visited city. The Mother City is expected to receive 1, 6 million international overnight visitors in 2014, who are likely to spend US$2, 3 billion. This is a 5, 5% increase in visitor numbers and an impressive 10% increase in spend compared to 2013 (US$2, 1 billion).
“The City of Gold’s status as the most popular destination city among visitors to the African continent is significant for the economic prospects of the city. Visitor spend is an increasingly important source of revenue for the city’s hospitality, retail, transport, sports and cultural sectors,” said Mark Elliott, Division President, South Africa, MasterCard.