Since its inception, the French Institute has developed three main domains of expertise: paleosciences, history, art history and heritage, social and political dynamics in contemporary African societies. Our mission is to encourage and subsidise collective or individual scientific projects through annual calls for proposals. We have a diverse range of partners in both South Africa and France who support us in our efforts. Large organisations like universities, institutes and research organisations, as well as partner journals like Revue Afriques and Justice Spatiale / Spatial Justice are all part of our partner network.

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Decentralised Co-operation

Local cooperation

Local cooperation is based on partnerships between French authorities (regions, departments, inter-municipalities, districts) and foreign authorities, involving human exchanges and relationships of trust. It is a pillar of French external action.

Based, above all, on the exchange of good practices, know-how, institutional support and training, local cooperation:

  • encourages the opening up and attractiveness of territories by promoting the economic, tourist and cultural influence of local authorities;
  • responds to a duty of international solidarity and development aid;
  • enables French and foreign local authorities to work towards the sustainable transformation of our societies by participating in the implementation of sustainable development objectives (SDOs) while promoting innovation, inclusion and social cohesion;
  • enhances the expertise of local authorities representatives/territorial agents, particularly on governance issues and the management of public services to citizens;
  • enables the population to become involved in its diversity, through shared initiatives with civil society organizations and by promoting mobility.

Local cooperation projects are partly financed by French local authorities. Numerous co-financing opportunities can be mobilised, both in the territory involved and through the DAECT, the AFD (FICOL) or the European Union.

For more information on decentralised cooperation, see the Operational Guide to Decentralized Cooperation.

Local co-operation

Local cooperation in South Africa

Local cooperation is well integrated into French practices, with more than 10,000 partnerships and twinning arrangements carried out by 4,700 local authorities with 8,100 partner foreign authorities in 134 countries.
In South Africa, many local cooperation projects have been set up since the 1990s.

  • Cooperation between the Bourgogne Franche Comté region and the Western Cape province celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020. Initially focused on bilateral exchanges in the field of winemaking for professionals from previously disadvantaged communities, this partnership has greatly diversified, with projects in the field of training, innovation and the dairy industry, among others.
  • Collaboration has also developed between the Réunion National Park (PNR) and the South African national parks SANParks since 2019.

Among the cooperation projects that have been completed to date are the following:

  • the Ile-de-France region and the province of Gauteng (urban development – transport, tourism, economic development, etc.)
  • the Reunion Island region and the KwaZulu-Natal province (cultural exchanges)
  • the Val de Marne department and the city of Johannesburg (social housing and management of early childhood services) the cities of Nantes and Durban (urban development, human rights and culture) or more recently between the Lille European metropolis and the city of Johannesburg (urban regeneration and territorial development).

Local cooperation remains a little-known instrument for South African local authorities and has great potential. As highlighted during the seminar “Developing cooperation projects in English-speaking Africa” organized by the DAECT, many avenues of cooperation could be developed, particularly in the water and sanitation sector, in terms of transition of the local economy (such as the conversion of mining regions), but also on climate strategy and resilience to climate change or innovation.

What support for French local authorities?

Since the beginning of decentralisation in France in 1992, the State has encouraged and supported the development of the international action of local authorities, whose action is complementary to its own, as stated in the white paper “Diplomacy and Territories” published in 2016 under the aegis of the National Commission for Decentralized Cooperation (CNCD).

The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and its dedicated department, the Delegation for the External Action of Local and Regional Authorities (DAECT), support the implementation of the external action of local and regional authorities through three-year, bilateral or thematic calls for projects, taking into account the geographical and thematic orientations of the State’s development policy and the areas of excellence of local authorities.

In close cooperation with the DAECT, the embassy supports French local authorities in the setting up and monitoring of their local cooperation projects:

  • Advice to local authorities wishing to establish a partnership with a South African local authority, support in identifying partners and themes, putting them in touch with each other;
  • Promotion of French local authorities to South African stakeholders;
  • Follow-up and support for ongoing decentralised cooperation projects.
Key Partners

The French Institute has a range of successful partnerships with educational and research institutions, non-governmental organisations, governmental organisations, cultural organisations and esteemed multinational organisations. We are committed to building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with partners who provide a vital mutual transfer of ideas and support to help us reach our shared cooperation goals between France, South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi. Partner with us today.

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If you would like to partner with us, please send us a message using the form below:

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The Occupying The Gallery / Occupying IFAS project, with an artist collective led by internationally acclaimed visual artists, Mary Sibande and Lawrence Lemoana, transforms art galleries into mentoring spaces for a dozen young creatives, offering a platform where artistic creation and learning come together. Their two occupations of IFAS were joined by Mosa Anita Kaiser, Hoek Swaratlhe, Lungile Ngcobo, Sphatho Mzantsi, Bongani Ndlovu, Tatenda Maisa, and Mlondi Magubane. From 16 April to 16 May and 22 to 30 July 2024, the creative platform on the first floor of IFAS was transformed into an artists' residency, positioning the Institute as a veritable creative hub for emerging artists and responding to the desire to support mentoring and training activities – a key focus of Occupying’s transformational agenda. In the first phase, the artists worked over a month-long residency to collectively produce artworks and prints, in collaboration with Artist Proof Studios, which were later presented at the RMB Latitudes Art Fair in Johannesburg from 23 to 26 May 2024. Upon their return to IFAS for a 10-day residency led by French visual artist, Hugues Anhēs, and independent exhibition coordinator and curator, Camille Gajate, joining from Paris through the support of Institut français in Paris and IFAS, the occupants produced Fahla Fahla!. ‘Fahla Fahla!’ is a colloquialism of the act of putting together, a touch, touch here and there, in bits and pieces. A drop of something short and sweet: adding and subtracting when needed to make a whole.
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