“African Strategy” is based on climate projects

Germany wants to do more to promote climate and environmentally friendly restructuring of the economy in African countries. Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) said in Berlin in his ministry’s presentation on the new “African Strategy”:

The development of the continent will shape the 21st century. “We’re talking about the greatest generation of young people Africa has ever known.” According to Schulze, developments in Africa will affect Germany and Europe more and more.

For example, it works with Germany, Rwanda and Kenya. In Kenya, for example, reforestation will be promoted and the electricity sector will be further restructured. The share of renewable energies will be increased from the current 90 percent to 100 percent by 2030. The Federal Government hopes the country will act as a role model in Africa.

The Federal Republic of Germany has signed a self-commitment that it wants to support the least developed countries in the world in a targeted way. Of these 46 countries, 33 are located in Africa.

Germany has also agreed to partner with South Africa to expand renewable energies, along with the EU, France, the UK and the US. South Africa is heavily dependent on coal. The construction of pilot and reference plants for green hydrogen is also supported by South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.

These are individual focal points:

• business

The number of people in Africa could reach two and a half billion people by 2050. In sub-Saharan Africa, the urban population could nearly triple in a few decades. “An additional 25 million jobs are needed each year,” the strategy paper says. Under the heading of “Social-ecological transformation” (“Just Transition”), economic sectors that create fair wages and do not harm the environment and climate should be given greater support in development cooperation. The focus is on expanding renewable energies, vaccine production and waste recycling or water and sanitation.

• Agricultural Economics

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has made particularly clear Africa’s dependence on grain from these two countries. In response, Germany launched the Global Food Security Alliance last spring. The structure, in which the African Union is actively involved, aims to provide a fast and coordinated response to future hunger crises. In November, the Global Food and Nutrition Security Dashboard, a platform that collects and publishes data on nutritional status and financial needs, went online.

• health

The African Union’s goal is to produce around 60 percent of all vaccines needed on the continent itself by 2040. According to its own statements, Germany has allocated more than half a billion euros for projects that have contributed to this since 2021 – for training of experts, advice, or for the development of production facilities and logistics in Rwanda, Ghana, South Africa. Senegal

• equality

The Ministry of Development wants to increase the proportion of funds that “directly or indirectly contribute to gender equality” from 64 percent to 93 percent by 2025. This includes strengthening so-called reproductive rights. According to the information obtained, one-third of women in Africa cannot access the contraceptive methods they want.

• Trade

An African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is openly supported. According to the information obtained, Germany has provided 79 million euros to the AfCFTA secretariat so far. Trade regulations such as improved quality standards and faster customs clearance are also processed here. The World Bank estimates that such a free trade area could increase intra-African trade by up to 81 percent by 2035. Germany’s long-term goal is a continental EU-Africa trade agreement.

• migration

In a pilot project by the Ministry of European Union and Development on labor migration and mobility between North Africa and Europe, employment agencies in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt are training and liaising with employment agencies in Belgium, France and Germany. German companies can fill positions this way if they can’t find anyone in Germany.