Country to emulate: For South African businesses seeking
proven, scalable digital solutions, Lithuania offers not just a
case study but a credible and relevant partner.
Eskom, the government of the Netherlands and key provincial partners officially launched the Grootvlei Climate Smart Horticulture Centre on Tuesday, 27 January 2026, at Eskom’s Grootvlei Power Station in Mpumalanga.
The centre is a pilot initiative under Eskom’s Just Energy Transition (JET) programme and marks an important step in linking South Africa’s energy transition with agriculture, climate-smart food production, skills development and new economic opportunities.
The Centre shows how repurposing energy-related infrastructure, including coal-fired power stations, can support future-oriented economic activities beyond the energy sector.
By combining clean energy solutions with climate-smart horticulture, the project contributes to job creation, skills development and more resilient local food systems.
Climate-smart horticulture enables food to be produced more efficiently and reliably, using less water and fewer inputs. This is particularly relevant in Mpumalanga, where people face the combined pressures of climate change, water scarcity and economic transition. The centre will serve as both a demonstration and training facility, supporting farmers, technicians and young professionals with practical, market-relevant skills.
The project illustrates how the JET can deliver tangible socio-economic benefits by linking repurposed energy infrastructure with productive land use. Through climate-smart horticulture, the centre supports alternative livelihoods and inclusive growth, while creating opportunities across the agricultural value chain, from production and training to processing and distribution. The partnership with the Netherlands reflects a shared focus on practical, integrated solutions.
Dutch expertise in high-tech horticulture, efficient water use, energy-smart production systems and the organisation of agricultural value chains is internationally recognised and relevant to Mpumalanga’s challenges. By combining South African knowledge and local leadership with Dutch expertise, the centre establishes a strong foundation for a future agrihub and longer-term private sector investment.
What begins as a demonstration and training site is intended to grow over time. The centre provides a platform for a future agrihub that brings together agriculture, energy, skills development and logistics, with increasing involvement from communities, institutions and the private sector.
Romanian ambassador supports rural South African communities through education initiatives
The ambassador of Romania to South Africa, Her Excellency Monica Sitaru, has reaffirmed Romania’s commitment to education and community development, with a focus on rural and township areas where access to resources remains uneven.
Through the Romanian embassy, two education-focused programmes have been implemented in recent years, reflecting sustained, practical support for South African learners and institutions.
The first programme, launched in 2023, supports township and rural schools through donations of electronic devices, IT equipment and essential learning materials. It has reached 10 schools across Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. More than 9194 learners have benefited, strengthening digital literacy, improving access to resources and creating more equitable learning environments.
Building on this foundation, a second programme was introduced in 2024 under the Romanian government’s Strategy for Africa. This initiative provides scholarships for undergraduate and master’s degree studies at Romanian universities. For the 2025–26 academic year, 20 students from southern Africa have been admitted, including eight from South Africa, five from Mozambique, four from Namibia and three from Seychelles, countries to which Ambassador Sitaru is accredited.
The scholarship programme reflects Romania’s broader approach to investing in human capital, fostering academic excellence and strengthening long-term partnerships through education and cultural exchange. Romania intends to expand the programme in the coming years, particularly welcoming more South African students. Education is seen as a cornerstone of sustainable development and a key platform for deepening cooperation.
Through these initiatives, Ambassador Sitaru continues to strengthen ties between Romania and South Africa, while ensuring educational support reaches communities where it can have the greatest long-term effect.
Aid: The ambassador of Romania to South Africa, Her Excellency Monica Sitaru, has reaffirmed Romania’s commitment to education and community development.
European Union and South Africa partner to empower women in the Just Energy Transition
As South Africa accelerates its transition to a low-carbon economy, one reality is clear: the success of this shift depends not only on technology and policy but on people. More specifically, it depends on whether women are intentionally included, trained and supported to participate in and lead within the energy sector.
Over the past year, the European Union partnered with the Institute of Energy Professionals Africa (IEPA) to implement two energy skills development programmes delivered by an all-female IEPA team. The partnership reinforces the principle of women empowering women across the energy value chain.
Funded by the EU, both programmes show what focused, outcomes-driven investment in women can achieve when aligned with labour-market needs.
One initiative, the Gauteng DID Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Practitioner Programme, ran from 1 August 2024 to 31 October 2025 and trained 14 learners, 71% of whom were women. All participants were placed within the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development while completing training in mathematics for green skills, soft skills, workplace preparation and the EPC skills programme.
Stipends from the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority enabled participation and retention, particularly for women who might otherwise have been excluded.
Of the 10 women enrolled, 70% passed their FISA assessments and are now registered Quality Council for Trades and Occupations EPC practitioners, a critical and increasingly regulated skill in South Africa’s built environment. Three of these women have secured permanent employment and the programme recorded only one dropout, highlighting the value of structured support, workplace exposure and financial stability during training.
The second initiative, the EPC Skills Programme in Mpumalanga, reached 75 learners across three TVET colleges — Nkangala, Ehlanzeni and Gert Sibande — between January and July 2025. Of these learners, 67% were women. Twenty students passed their FISA assessments, including 55% women, while three female graduates were absorbed by IEPA to complete work-integrated learning. Top-performing students at two of the colleges were women.
Beyond certification outcomes, these programmes show how public and international funding, paired with experienced local partners, can translate policy intent into tangible labour-market outcomes for women. By combining technical training, workplace exposure, mentorship and financial support, the initiatives addressed skills shortages and systemic barriers faced by women entering the energy sector.
As South Africa responds to growing energy-efficiency compliance requirements and persistent workforce gaps, these programmes underscore a critical point: investing in women through well-designed, publicly funded training is socially just, economically necessary and strategically essential.
When women are equipped with scarce energy skills and supported from training to employment, they do not merely enter the sector — they help shape its future.
Mpumalanga can benefit immensely from Dutch expertise in high-tech horticulture, water use and energy-smart production systems.
Why South African business should look to Lithuania for digital solutions
For South African businesses and public institutions, digitalisation is no longer about ambition but about effective implementation. As organisations grapple with modernising systems, improving service delivery and competing in a digital economy, Lithuania offers a practical model of how a small, agile European Union economy has aligned digital public services, regulatory clarity and highly skilled technical talent to drive both business growth and efficient government operations.
Lithuania’s experience, spanning e-government systems, fintech regulation and advanced technology adoption, offers insights directly relevant to South Africa’s own digital transformation. It demonstrates how technology can be leveraged to create economic opportunity, improve public services and support scalable, sustainable development.
The geographic distance between South Africa and Lithuania may appear significant, yet the two countries share important values, including a commitment to democracy, a rules-based multilateral order and inclusive economic development. Both nations emerged from periods of political transition in the 1990s, shaping not only their political systems but also their approaches to reform and growth. Individuals of Lithuanian origin, including Joe Slovo and Albie Sachs, played influential roles in South Africa’s democratic journey, underscoring a shared history that continues to inform cooperation today.
Lithuania has since built a digital economy designed for speed, clarity and scale. With a population of just 2.9 million, public services are digital by default, companies can be registered in as little as one day and processes such as licensing, permitting and tax compliance are handled online.
This efficiency and predictability have attracted global companies, including Nasdaq and Thermo Fisher Scientific, while positioning Lithuania as Europe’s leading fintech hub, with more than 280 licensed fintech firms serving over 30 million customers across the EU.
Innovation remains a central pillar of Lithuania’s competitiveness. Lithuanian engineers, researchers and designers are multilingual, digitally fluent and globally connected.