Danish Royal Visit 2015
Building
Danish and South African
Green trading partnerships
By Carol Posthumus
The Crown Prince Frederik and the Royal Danish delegation are welcomed by local people in the Tsitsikamma, Eastern Cape. Photo by Christian Meyer, Konghuset
W
ith a heart-wrenching drought and
serious water issues in many areas, our
energy grid lurching along and student
unhappiness at a crescendo, the timing of the
Danish Royal Visit to South Africa in November
was well-timed.
We can, certainly, in our fair land, do with a few Green fairy
tales - with excellent technology, innovation and some great new
partnerships and interactions in business possibly adding a bit
of fairy dust to power everything up a touch. South Africa, in
short, desperately needs to create employment, prosperity and
skills (especially in technical, Green and agricultural arenas) and
energy – while saving water and growing more nutritious food.
Denmark, famed for innovations such as Lego and the home
of Hans Christiaan Andersen - The Little Mermaid - fairy tales,
is a prosperous country and has impressive Green economy
credentials in many areas. It would seem Denmark innovation
looks a good partner for many initiatives in technology and
agriculture. South Africa and Denmark have long synchronised
and traded – Danida, the aid agency, has long been a wellknown name in South Africa. However, while aid was the
keyword some years ago, now the focus of the Denmark-South
Africa connection is green trade.
It would seem a positive trend for us that South Africa is
interacting increasingly with Denmark on energy, climate and
water projects (see box on Denmark). Consider that it is estimated
that 40% of the wind sector in South Africa is driven by Danish
wind companies and the largest biogas facility in South Africa is
powered by Danish solutions.
Crown Prince Frederik and the delegation arrive at the J-Bay wind
farm, photo by Christian Meyer, Konghuset
Wind farms in J-Bay, Woolies
On a recent Royal Danish visit to South Africa, a Danish delegation
went on an extremely comprehensive three day tour focussed on
the hubs of Cape Town and Johannesburg – visiting Soccer City
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SABI | DECEMBER 2015/JANUARY 2016