New! 16 July 2023 – Minister of Finance of South Africa, Endoch Godongwana, and OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann signed the Memorandum of Understanding for Co-operative Activities and Joint Work Programme.  The programme will initially focus on developing small, micro and medium enterprises, promoting trade and investment and improving the skills of the South African workforce.

A mutually beneficial relationship

As the OECD and South Africa deepen their collaboration, South African policy makers gain access to OECD expertise and good policy practices; the OECD, in turn, benefits from exposure to South African policy perspectives, to enhance mutual learning.

In 2007 the OECD Council at Ministerial level adopted a resolution which led to South Africa’s becoming one of five Key Partners to the OECD, along with Brazil, China, India and Indonesia. Key partners contribute to the OECD's work in a sustained and comprehensive manner. A central element of the collaboration is the promotion of direct and active participation of these countries in the work of substantive bodies of the Organisation.

South Africa's participation spans a wide array of policy issues, including macroeconomic policy and structural reform, debt management, fiscal policy, domestic resource mobilisation, competition policy, agricultural policy, public governance, rural and urban development, the fight against bribery, development, science, technology and innovation, chemicals testing and tourism.

How is the co-operation co-ordinated?

The OECD’s Directorate for Global Relations and Co-operation develops and oversees the strategic orientation of this relationship and ensures that the dialogue remains focused, forward-looking and mutually beneficial. Usually, meetings are held between South African officials and experts from OECD countries and the OECD Secretariat, on topics mutually agreed on and jointly prepared with analytical studies.

South Africa's participation in OECD activities

South Africa participates as an Associate/Member or Participant in 20 OECD committees and their subsidiary bodies or projects and entities within the OECD family – including the Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions, the Committee on Fiscal Affairs, the Economic Policy Committee, the Development Centre, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes or the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) Governing Board it joined in December 2020.
South Africa has adhered to 24 OECD legal instruments – including the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, to which South Africa became a Party in January 2023.

South Africa participates in numerous OECD flagship projects and publications, including the Economic Outlook, Education at a Glance, Going for Growth, Green Growth, the Employment Outlook, the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook, Pensions at a Glance, and the Science, Technology and Industry Outlook.