At a ceremony attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and South African President Thabo Mbeki, the CEOs of French nuclear firm, Areva, and Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (Necsa) signed an agreement that would see Areva's support for engineering and nuclear skills development extended and increased.

"Arecsa Human Capital, a joint venture between Areva and Necsa, will increase training in technology and energy of disadvantaged South Africans, underlining the company's commitment to government's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa and the Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa)," the French firm said in a statement on Friday.

Future cooperation between the two parties would also extend to the training of artisans through the Necsa Artisan Training Centre and a technical training centre, which reopened this year to address the needs for artisans in the broader nuclear industry.

These agreements support Areva's initiatives aimed at bridging the gap in nuclear skills - which is a necessary step in building and maintaining South Africa's nuclear programme.

"Skills are critical if South Africa's nuclear industry is to succeed. Today, we have extended our support to Jipsa, and made another strong commitment to this vital area of the South African government's economic policy," Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon said.

The skills development initiatives include the project leaders programme that has already trained skilled South African engineers at the Sorbonne and Areva University, and will be extended for a further five years, with more engineers benefiting from the training.

Also, in partnership with the North West University (NWU), Areva would start nuclear project management training at the university this year. The training would target local nuclear industry executives and NWU postgraduate students registered for nuclear engineering.