After the adoption of the new African policy guidelines by the German government, the German economy is criticizing a lack of structured African policy.
The reformulation of the guidelines was overdue in light of the new geopolitical situation following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, said Christoph Kannengießer, the head of the Africa Association of the German Economy, to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”. However, the coexistence of different ministries is still not helpful. Many things seem to happen by chance rather than being planned. Priorities are not clearly recognizable, and the responsibilities are not clearly formulated.
There is still room for improvement in the guidelines: “The more action-oriented such guidelines are, and the more concrete the described goals, the more relevance they can unfold. Otherwise, the motto is: Paper is patient. There is still room for improvement” said Kannengießer.
What is needed is more financial backing for business investments in Africa. Moreover, the German government must “take its role as a door-opener and pace-setter more strongly than before”.
The economies in Africa are strongly influenced by state intervention. Investments are hardly possible without a positive signal from the respective government there. Concerns about stability and the political system must be set aside. “We must be a bit more open and less complicated. Otherwise, we will also forgo the chance to have an impact.”
The federal cabinet adopted a new version of the African policy guidelines on Wednesday.