South Africa has signed a nuclear energy co-operation agreement with France.

It covers areas including the development of skills and research and initiates the phase of possible deployment of French nuclear technologies in South Africa.

The nation currently has only one nuclear power station, which provides around 5% of its installed generating capacity.

It plans to build more nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 9.6GW by 2030 as part of its Nuclear New Build programme.

South African Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said: “South Africa is pleased to continue the long–standing cooperation with France as this paves the way for establishing a nuclear procurement process.”