"South Africa has been one of our better clients in Africa. We have had difficulties with some programmes, but overall we are very happy with the results," said Jean-Michel Severino, chief executive of the French Development Agency.

Severino said France had deliberately shifted its focus away from traditional areas of Francophone interest and was now more active in English-speaking African countries.

He said Paris had continued to build its activities in South Africa in line with a 1994 decision to back the economic empowerment of black people locked out under apartheid and to promote equity, but also because the infrastructure provided fertile ground for targeted development projects.

This week Severino signed partnerships including:

• Support worth à200-million to help Transnet extend container handling facilities in Cape Town;

• Support for Airports Company South Africa worth à85-million;

• Funding of R1.1-billion for a 100 megawatt wind farm in the Western Cape;

• R1.1-billion to the Development Bank of Southern Africa for projects, including a joint training programme in Gauteng for corporate executives from elsewhere in Africa;

• A à200-million loan agreement with the National Housing Finance Corporation for social and private rental projects; and

• A R3.3-million grant to the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation for research into HIV testing and treatment.