South Africa and the United Kingdom on Tuesday launched a fund to boost science and innovation partnership.
The two countries are determined to take their already strong science and innovation relationship to the next level and have therefore agreed to launch a fund embodying this partnership based on the principles of co-ownership and co-responsibility, a joint media statement said.
The fund dubbed "South Africa-UK Newton Fund"will bring together contributions from both sides to support science, technology and innovation, creating a catalyst to stimulate socioeconomic development in South Africa and more widely across sub-Saharan Africa.
Both countries will also be looking actively to work closely with other African countries in this initiative, according to the statement.
South Africa and the UK have jointly committed up to 140 million rand (about 13 million U.S. dollars) per year under the Newton Fund, including funding from nongovernmental bodies and private sectors.
The Fund will support projects in the thematic areas of public health, environment and food security, and science and technology capacity building, with a focus on seeking to ensure that activities have a regional footprint, with the ultimate aim of encouraging research that boosts jobs and growth.
There will also be a special focus on "big data".
Visiting UK Minister of State for Africa, James Duddridge, and South Africa's Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, signed a memorandum of understanding for the first three years of the programme to this effect in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch, Pandor welcomed the cooperation, saying the two countries enjoyed strong bilateral relations in numerous areas of mutual interest, including various engagements that emphasized societal development.
The medical research councils of both countries also announced three-year partnerships to collaborate on research projects in the areas of tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases, which will likely see wider nongovernmental participation too.
Meanwhile, UK Royal Academies, together with the National Research Foundation, announced a scheme for 90 Fellowships and 150 mobility grants.