Bavaria deepens research cooperation with South Africa – launch of the Bavaria-Western Cape biotech initiative

From 1 to 5 November 2025, Bavaria's Minister President, Dr Markus Söder, will travel to the Republic of South Africa. The destination is the partner province of the Western Cape, with its capital Cape Town. The trip will focus on political discussions and strengthening scientific and economic cooperation between Bavaria and South Africa, particularly in the areas of research, innovation, and technology transfer. 
Martin Reichel, Managing Director of the Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR), attended the signing of the 'Bavaria-Western Cape Biotech Initiative'. BayFOR hosts the Bavaria-Africa and Bavaria-Quebec/Bavaria-Alberta/International Scientific Coordination Offices, which coordinate these strategic partnerships.

Political talks and international cooperation

Minister-President Söder's programme includes talks with the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, and the Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde. He will also participate in the ‚Regional Leaders Summit‘ (RLS), an international conference of heads of government founded in 2002 by Bavaria and now taking place for the twelfth time.

The RLS network comprises seven partner regions on five continents. The aim is to strengthen international cooperation in business, science and society, jointly address global challenges and seize opportunities through internationalisation. Since the first meeting in Munich in 2002, the heads of government have met every two years. Previous summits have focused on sustainable energy, resource efficiency, and intergenerational policy.

In 2025, Georgia (USA), Québec (Canada), São Paulo (Brazil), Shandong (China) and Upper Austria (Austria) will participate alongside Bavaria and the Western Cape. Together, these regions represent around 187 million people. This year's motto is 'Growth through economic resilience'.

The Scientific Coordination Office Bavaria-Quebec / Bavaria-Alberta / International of BayFOR is responsible for the Bavarian government's programme to promote research cooperation with regions associated with the Regional Leaders Summit network.

Expansion of science and research cooperation

The expansion of science and research cooperation is one of the main focuses of the trip. At Stellenbosch University, existing partnerships between Bavarian and South African universities were renewed and new cooperation agreements were signed.

Plans include:

• Exchange programmes for students and teachers
• Joint research projects and innovation initiatives
• Cooperation in the field of entrepreneurship and start-ups.

The new Bavaria-Western Cape Biotech Initiative is of particular importance. It aims to strengthen collaboration in life sciences and health technologies. The initiative involves universities and colleges from Munich, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Würzburg, Bayreuth, Regensburg, Augsburg, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf and Neu-Ulm, to name a few.

Background

South Africa is Bavaria's most important trading partner on the African continent and will hold the G20 presidency in 2025. This delegation trip forms part of the Free State of Bavaria's long-term Africa strategy, which has supported the expansion of scientific, economic and social cooperation, including in the areas of youth development, vocational training and innovation, since 2019. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the partnership between Bavaria and the Western Cape.

As part of this strategy, the  Scientific Coordination Office Bavaria-Africa was set up at BayFOR in 2020. The office aims to expand networks between Bavarian and African universities, research institutions, and innovation organisations, and to support strategic cooperation projects.