German leaders are scheduled to visit four African countries within the next few days.
When chancellor Olaf Solz it reaches inside Nigeria on Sunday, will be his third trip to Africa since taking office nearly two years ago.
Meanwhile, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is set to arrive in Africa on Monday for talks in Tanzania and Zambia.
Broadening economic prospects in Africa
Scholz and Steinmeier will focus on Germany’s economic relations with the respective countries linked to the reform policy of the Berlin Pact with Africa initiative ahead of the meeting of Africans and Africa on 20 November. G20 countries in Berlin.
Germany has set a new tone on trade with countries in Africa: German companies want to be more active in Africa. In its wake Russia’s war in Ukraine and growing tensions with ChinaGerman companies are increasingly turning their attention to African countries in search of new economic opportunities.
During the last trip to Africa in May, Scholz said: “Now is the time to make a new start in North-South relations, which will allow the development of common perspectives with the many countries of the South on an equal basis.”
Focus on regional security
Last year, Germany’s development ministry pledged 100 million euros ($105) to Nigeria over two years to support small and medium-sized businesses, help agriculture, expand the renewable energy sector and promote women’s employment.
Scholz is expected to follow up on this during talks with President Bola Tinubu. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, ranks jointly with Egypt as Africa’s largest economies.
Scholz and Tinubu are also set to discuss regional security and global issues, according to Berlin authorities. This will also happen when Scholz travels to Ghana for a meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) President of the Commission Omar Touray. ECOWAS is leading the mediation process with the military junta Niger, who took office in July.
Ghana is a stable democracy and a safe business location in West Africa, says Burkhardt Hellemann, head of the German Chamber of Foreign Trade in Ghana.
“Many German companies have chosen Ghana for this, to also trade in the region or the region…Togo, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegaland so on,” Hellemann told DW.
Business friendly courses in Tanzania
While Scholz is in West Africa, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will head to East Africa.
In his first stop in Tanzania, Steinmeier is due to meet President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Unlike her predecessor, John Magufuli, Suluhu Hassan is following a pragmatic and more business-friendly course and is seen as a beacon of hope for reformespecially for women and girls, in the country.
Steinmeier’s trip to Tanzania comes as no surprise, says Maren Diale-Schellschmidt, head of the German Chamber of Foreign Trade in neighboring Kenya.
“The investment environment for German companies has improved significantly in the last two years since the new president Samia Suluhu Hassan has been in power,” he told DW.
According to Daile-Schellschmidt, Tanzania is approaching infrastructure, energy and environmental technology, an area of particular interest to Germany. German companies are looking beyond north and south Africa and are opening more and more new locations in the west and east of the continent, he says.
A look at German colonial history
when Steinmeier meets representatives of the German and Tanzanian business community, the focus will be precisely on the economic outlook and trade.
Professor XN Iraki, an economist at the University of Nairobi, notes that the ties between the two countries run deep. Tanzania was part of German East Africa from 1885 to 1918.
“Tanzania has a lot of agricultural land, a lot of minerals, but it needs someone to invest in these areas,” Iraqi told DW. Tanzania is also counting on cooperation with Germany as a counterweight to China, which has invested heavily in Tanzania, especially in the transport sector, he said.
On the second day of his visit, Steinmeier will focus on his period German colonial rule, when what is Tanzania today was part of German East Africa.
Steinmeier is to travel to Songea in the south of the country to visit the graves of the victims of the 1905-1907 Maji-Maji rebellion and meet with their descendants.
According to Iraki, reconciliation with the colonial era is a trend these days.
“They pay reparations, apologize or make peace with those who suffered from colonial rule,” he told DW. “Perhaps Germany wants to come to terms with this historical atrocity or injustice that many Tanzanians suffered during the colonial period and come to terms with it.”
This, Iraki believes, would be desirable for both Tanzania and Germany.
Steinmeier’s next state visit to southern Zambia on November 1 will be the first by a German president. Talks with President Hakainde Hichilema are expected to focus on water as a resource — the water extraction plant on the Zambezi River is a German development cooperation project that Steinmeier will visit.
Editor: Benita van Eyssen