[{"bbox": [97, 153, 1134, 207], "category": "Text", "text": "that enables the creation, the transition, and the development of SMMEs active in green economy value chains, or\nwilling to invest in low carbon production processes, through finance and non-finance support."}, {"bbox": [97, 232, 1134, 338], "category": "Text", "text": "By choosing SMMEs, skills development and capacity building through technical assistance as the intersection,\nthis Action will address the strategic objectives of the MIP 2021-2027 that relate to sustainable, resilient,\ntransformative and inclusive growth, reducing inequalities and partnerships. The Action is also interlinked with\nSDGs: 4,5,7,8,9,10,12,13."}, {"bbox": [97, 365, 1134, 499], "category": "Text", "text": "The Action will be implemented in a Team Europe approach, as the EU, its member states, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Development Finance Institutions (EDFIs) are committed to support South Africa in the context of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. The Team Europe Initiative (TEI) ‘Just and Green Recovery’ remains the paramount reference and the TEI ‘Jobs for the Future South Africa’ complements the first TEI via skilling the youth for jobs, including in the net-zero energy technologies value chains."}, {"bbox": [97, 524, 1134, 707], "category": "Text", "text": "In order to tap into synergies with ongoing actions of the EU and its Member States in the context of the Team Europe approach, the action will be integrated with other actions such as GIZ's Career Path Development for Employment (CPD4E) programme, and AFD's revival of Eskom's Academy of Learning. The action will also be complemented by interventions financed from regional programmes such as the upcoming North South Corridor, the TEI Investing in Young Businesses in Africa (IYBA) or TEI Opportunity driven TVET in Africa. Together, they contribute to the implementation of the Global Gateway's key areas of partnership on Climate, Energy and Education and Research."}, {"bbox": [97, 736, 1134, 790], "category": "Text", "text": "With its substantial contribution and interventions, the EU will be a key contributor to the JETP implementation\nin SA and further enhance its strategic partnership with SA."}, {"bbox": [85, 819, 323, 849], "category": "Section-header", "text": "2 RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [85, 883, 234, 910], "category": "Section-header", "text": "2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [133, 931, 317, 954], "category": "Section-header", "text": "A. Overall context"}, {"bbox": [97, 968, 1134, 1182], "category": "Text", "text": "South Africa, the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa with whom the EU signed a strategic partnership, is currently\nfacing complex political and economic challenges. Whilst South Africa is one of Africa's largest economies, it is\nalso the most unequal country in the world, with extreme levels of unemployment, inequality and poverty.\nOfficially, the unemployment rate currently stands at 32,9%, though the numbers go up to over 40 % if one includes\npeople who have given up seeking employment.¹ Youth unemployment (18–29 years old) is over 50 %, a figure\nthat coincides almost exactly with the percentage age of eligible young voters who have dropped out of the electoral\nprocess by declining to register to vote in the past two elections, implying that there is also an emerging crisis in\ndemocratic legitimacy.²"}, {"bbox": [97, 1207, 1134, 1443], "category": "Text", "text": "In South Africa, the Human Development Index (HDI) is of 0.713. However, it decreases to 0.471 when accounting for inequality (IHDI), and with a high Gini index of 63. According to the IMF, income distribution remains highly skewed. The top 20% of the population holds over 68% of income, while the bottom 30% of the population holds 7% of income. Moreover, there are important disparities across regions, where provinces such as Gauteng and Western Cape doubling income per capita in rural provinces such as Limpopo or Eastern Cape.³ Moreover, over 51% of the population aged 0 to 14 years old belong to the bottom 40 % of the population.⁴ According to a World Bank report, race also continues to play a determining factor in society. When race is considered as a factor in income disparities, its contribution to income inequality amounts to 41%, while contribution of education is reduced to a 30%.⁵"}, {"bbox": [85, 1477, 640, 1502], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹ Statistics taken from Statistics South Africa: www.statssa.gov.za."}, {"bbox": [85, 1501, 640, 1525], "category": "Footnote", "text": "² Statistics taken from Statistics South Africa: www.statssa.gov.za."}, {"bbox": [85, 1525, 1143, 1573], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³ IMF (2022) Six Charts Explaining South Africa's Inequality. https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2020/01/29/na012820six-charts-on-south-africas-persistent-and-multi-faceted-inequality."}, {"bbox": [85, 1573, 1079, 1598], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁴ World Bank (2022) Poverty and Inequality Platform. Country Profile. https://pip.worldbank.org/country-profiles/ZAF"}, {"bbox": [85, 1598, 1140, 1646], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁵ World Bank (2022) Inequality in Southern Africa: An assessment of the Southern African customs union.\nhttps://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099125303072236903/pdf/P1649270c02a1f06b0a3ae02e57eadd7a82.pdf"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1682, 1143, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 27"}]