Promoting job creation and economic development in South Africa In many parts of rural South Africa, poverty is the defining feature. Eastern Cape Province is the poorest of all. Through major EU-funded economic development programmes, we are helping people in some of the deprived provinces to improve their lives by starting their own businesses. Project Director Keith Cook takes up the story: "These EU funded projects are aimed at job creation and promoting economic development in places where that wasn’t well understood. The first one was in KwaZulu-Natal, where unemployment was running at 39%. Known as Gijima, it involved funding local projects that would create sustainable jobs as well as building the capacity of local government to manage economic development. "The project’s €37m fund

Join for free to read