PRESS RELEASE
With Obama Leaving... A New German Africa Policy Coming?
Jan. 19, 2017 (EIRNS)—Germany’s Development Minister Gerd Müller has published his draft for a new Africa policy of Germany. The emphasis no longer is on money transfers and the funding many isolated small projects, but rather on job-creating investments in African countries with the active role of German Mittelstand (independent small and medium-sized) companies. If the latter invest, the ministry will grant risk guarantees and tax cuts. More money than the volumes of traditional development will be required, but Africa would also have more say on its own development perspectives—for that, the UN Security Council must be reformed so that Africa (e.g., the African Union) has a seat as a permanent member.
If Africa does not get the support it needs, millions of young Africans will come to Europe every year, not 170,000 as in 2016, Müller warned. Interviewed on the ARD TV morning show, he said that the focus would certainly be on working with those states in Africa that are stable and committed to cooperate, but the debate on corruption in African countries should always keep in mind that serious corruption also exists in Europe—the ongoing investigation at Volkswagen on its diesel fraud being a prominent example just these days.
The new Africa approach is not yet official policy; the draft proposal still has to be discussed with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of Economics, and of Finances. The Greens and their entire entourage of non-governmental organizations are unhappy with the draft proposal—which exposes all of them as enemies of African development.
