Ambassador's Greeting

Welcome to the Embassy of Denmark in South Africa!

From 1 September 2023, I have had the privilege and honour to represent the Kingdom of Denmark as the Danish Ambassador to South Africa and side-accredited to Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, eSwatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organisation and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

For decades, Denmark has had close relations to South Africa and the people of South Africa. These relations date back to our strong support for democracy and the struggle against apartheid, with Denmark being the first Western country to impose restrictive unilateral trade sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Following the first democratic elections in 1994, the Danish-South African relations expanded rapidly to also include a comprehensive development cooperation program. In the years since the democratic transformation, South Africa has experienced rapid changes. The reality of South Africa today means that the bilateral partnership between South Africa and Denmark has also transformed. 

There has been a phasing-out of previous development cooperation programs and instead new areas of cooperation and partnership have been build. In February 2022, the President of South Africa and the Danish Prime Minister signed a Green Strategic Partnership, elevating our bilateral relations to a new level.

One important area of cooperation is our common interest in creating a world built on human rights, good governance and the rule of law, as enshrind in the Constitutions of both South African and Denmark. We also work closely together on multilateral affairs and in the promotion of peace and security.
Another priority area is economic cooperation and investments. The energy sector for example, presents opportunities for Danish companies who have leading competencies in the areas of renewable energy. The water sector presents similar potential for both South Africa and Denmark. Other sectors of commercial partnerships involve city development, health, agriculture, logistics and digitization.

We carry out strategic sector cooperation in a number of sectors, where peers from Danish and South African authorities meet regularly to exchange experience and knowledge about regulation and policies within the energy, water, city management, and food and agriculture sectors.  
Together with our great and culturally diverse staff at the Embassy, I will strive to develop ever-closer Danish-South African relations and promote cooperation that benefits both our countries and our people. 

If you want to explore in greater depth what the partnership entails, I invite you to explore this website and to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter. At the Embassy, we wish to communicate informally, openly and actively with our colleagues and partners.

This website is meant to provide easy access to information about Denmark and Danish-South African relations. Should you require additional information on the cooperation between Denmark and South Africa, or our assistance in other matters, you are very welcome to contact the Embassy.

Elsebeth Søndergaard Krone, Ambassador