Chancellor Scholz: "Africa is our partner of choice"
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has offered Germany and the German economy as a long-term and reliable partner to African countries. At a press conference on the "Compact with Africa" summit in Berlin, he referred in particular to energy issues and the production of green hydrogen. "Africa is our partner of choice when it comes to intensifying our economic relations and moving towards a climate-neutral future together."
"Compact with Africa" goes back to an initiative launched by Germany during its chairmanship of the G20 group in 2017. It aims to improve the economic framework conditions in the participating countries in order to make them more attractive for foreign private investment.
The group of states now includes 13 countries from the African continent: Egypt, Ethiopia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia. Other countries are interested in joining.
Increase in direct investment
Scholz emphasized that the Compact partnership is working. "In terms of economic development, the Compact countries are performing above average compared to Africa as a whole." Foreign direct investment in these countries increased massively again last year.
With regard to the expansion of economic relations, Scholz said: "It is clear that the enormous economic potential can only be leveraged through large-scale private investment." The interest of German companies in Africa is immense. The government facilitates private investment through favorable guarantee conditions, said Scholz.
The Chairman of the African Union, Azil Assoumani, and the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, assured that Africa was also open to other partnerships in view of China's already strong presence. "There is no monopoly. Everyone has their place," Assoumani emphasized. Both politicians emphasized that the debts of African countries and the interest burden were too high and were hampering the countries' own investments. "The debt burden is a yoke," said Faki.
At the "Compact with Africa" summit in Berlin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned that this initiative, initiated during Germany's G20 chairmanship in 2017, involves 13 African countries and aims to improve their economic conditions for foreign investment. Internationally, Scholz emphasized that Germany, as a partner, will collaborate with these countries to foster green energy and hydrogen production, aligning with Olaf Scholz's statement that Africa is a priority partner in economic relations and a shared climate-neutral future.
Source: www.dpa.com
