Chancellor Angela Merkel Holds Berlin Summit on Compact with Africa | Africa | DW

The impact of the G20's "Africa Pact" is already being felt on the continent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday at a summit of leaders of 12 African nations in Berlin, welcoming the initiative launched by Germany last year.

"It's not just talking about Africa, but about its content," Merkel told the conference. "The Pact with Africa takes a different, new approach: it is a type of partnership on an equal footing, aiming to be sustainable and to benefit equally for all."

"In addition to strengthening Africa as a place of investment, it is also important to establish fair trading relations between Europe and Africa," Merkel said. .

The meeting is devoted to assessing the effects of the G20's large-scale project, launched under the group's presidency in Berlin, aimed at strengthening African infrastructure and the economy. Egyptian leader Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Rwandan leader Paul Kagame and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali are also present.

"This conference here expresses the fact that we want to live and breathe partnership and cooperation," said Merkel.

"Hunger is a murder"

Before the summit opened, German Development Minister Gerd Müller said Germany would invest in health care, agriculture and education in Africa.

"Hunger is murder," he told Bayern Radio Station 2.

With the Compact with Africa project, Berlin also hopes to limit migration to Europe by offering jobs to young Africans in their own countries. According to Müller, about 90% of refugees from African countries remain on their home continent.

Despite optimistic messages, Merkel 's meeting with African leaders appears to be a repeat of last year' s summit attended by representatives of the same countries. Tuesday's message is the same as at the time: Africa and Europe should collaborate more closely on economic issues. This should make Africa more prosperous; the number of migrants would decrease and the German economy would benefit as well.

Commitments do not meet needs

Last year, the pact with Africa was launched with considerable fanfare. Ingo Badoreck, Secretary General of the Deutsche Afrika Stiftung [German Africa Foundation: DAS], said the pact is actually a good initiative.

However, he also acknowledged that the initial euphoria was blurred. "The Pact has created a certain level of expectation in Africa:" If we adhere to the Pact, we will see large-scale domestic and foreign investment. "People are now facing the reality that it's happening. is a long process that will take years, "Badoreck told DW.
Germany and other partners support the initiative with technical and financial expertise – and also encourage companies from their respective countries to get involved in Africa. Until now, according to information from the Ministry of Finance, foreign investors have pledged about 243 billion euros ($ 277.61 billion) in the Compact countries, but a study has shown that "the world's largest economy is not a big deal. it needed 537 billion euros just to provide electricity and water for all by 2030.

Investors do not queue

In Germany too, progress is slow. The federal government has improved the security of German companies wishing to invest in Africa. When Chancellor Merkel visited Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana in August, she was accompanied by a large delegation of business people. Some companies have announced new projects in Africa; Bosch, for example, is setting up a medical packaging plant, a solar plant, Voith, and Volkswagen has built a manufacturing plant in Rwanda. Familiar names also predominate at Tuesday's conference; many, like Allianz, Siemens or MAN, were already active in Africa before the Compact.

Do African countries benefit?

There is also the question of who benefits most from additional investments in the Compact countries – local people or foreign companies? Tutu Agyare is a Ghanaian businessman. "Anyone wishing to do business on the continent must be willing to invest in technical training, technical expertise and some technology transfers," he told DW. "In five or ten years, these are things we should be able to do in partnership, or even independently."

Agyare welcomed the initiative that encourages African countries to introduce reforms. His point is that it is not only Africa that needs to make changes. "Trade-related problems, subsidies to western farmers that make it impossible for us to develop our agricultural industry because we receive food, or the quota system that exists for finished products, which means Even if we develop Finished products can not be sold competitively, they are conversations that we must have, they are more effective in Europe than in Africa, "he said.

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