G20 Africa Partnership Conference
Merkel: We must achieve results
Through the G20’s "Compact with Africa" initiative as well as through reform partnerships with African countries, the Federal Government wants to improve the framework conditions for investments. At the G20 Africa Partnership Conference in Berlin, the Federal Chancellor encouraged the participants to "talk straight".
Young people in Africa need to feel they can make a life for themselves in their home country, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed.
Photo: Bundesregierung/Schacht
Economic development and population growth on the African continent are increasingly having a global impact, especially on its neighbouring continent of Europe and on Germany.
That is why the Federal Government made Africa one of the focal topics of its G20 Presidency. It wants to use the G20 Africa Partnership to strengthen political and economic stability in Africa, as well as to minimise the root causes of displacement and illegal migration and to promote ownership in Africa.
Africa as a continent was still not benefitting from global economic dynamism in the same way as others, Chancellor Angela Merkel said during her recent trip to Argentina. That was why Africa had to be incorporated into global economic dynamism and existing approaches to boosting growth needed to be promoted.
More growth through investment
Chancellor Merkel has invited the heads of state and government of African partner countries to the international G20 Africa Partnership Conference - Investing in a Common Future -.
At this high-level event the involved partners plan to explore new investment opportunities on the African continent and to reach agreement on how to create new incentives for more private investment, sustainable investment in public infrastructure and economic participation through employment. They will also discuss initiatives for increasing the use of information and communication technologies by women and girls. Further, the G20 Africa Partnership is to be used to support access to a climate friendly energy supply in Africa through renewable energies.
The Partnership focuses on initiatives such as the Federal Ministry of Finance's Compact with Africa, which seeks to improve the framework conditions for private investments. Special attention is being given to the #eSkills4Girls initiative as well as to rural development, climate and energy supply actions initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Meeting with the African Union and Outreach countries
Chancellor Merkel will hold the opening speech at the conference on Monday. During a panel the heads of state and government of the G20's African partner countries will then discuss the framework conditions for trade and investment opportunities in Africa.
Following a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Angela Merkel will hold trilateral talks in the Federal Chancellery on Tuesday evening with Alpha Condé, President of the Republic of Guinea and current chair of the African Union (AU), and with Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the AU Commission. They will discuss wide-ranging cooperation with the AU and joint implementation of the G20 Africa Partnership.
Following that the Chancellor will chair an Outreach meeting as part of the G20 Africa Partnership Conference and host a dinner in the Federal Chancellery. The focus here will be on an exchange on promoting private infrastructure investment in Africa and the associated opportunities and risks.
As well as the heads of state and government of various African countries, the former German President and current UN special envoy to Western Sahara, Horst Köhler, and high-ranking business representatives will be taking part.
Improving the economic framework
The conference will continue at the working level on Tuesday, 13 June, when various high-level working groups will discuss their own experiences in regard to the macroeconomic, entrepreneurial and fiscal policy framework. Talks will also focus on aspects such as public and private investments, as well as vocational training, digitalisation, climate, sustainable development, and creating stability and security.
The international G20 Africa Partnership Conference - Investing in a Common Future will be taking place on 12/13 June on the EUREF Campus in the Schöneberg district of Berlin. It aims to contribute to greater cooperation between the G20 and African countries. The focal topics of the G20 Africa Initiative will be discussed in dialogue forums with policy-makers and representatives from civil society and business. Another aim is to convey a nuanced picture of a modern Africa and to get private investors to step up their economic engagement. The event is being organised jointly by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the German Bundesbank.
Saturday, 10 June 2017