Bonn, 15/12/2023: Is the German economy discovering our neighbouring continent of Africa after all? Over the past few weeks, you could get a bit of that impression. At the centre of it all: green hydrogen.
At the end of October, the Federal Chancellor and Federal President were travelling, one to East Africa and the other to West Africa, with a number of representatives of German companies in their delegations. Shortly afterwards, a major Africa conference was held in Berlin as part of the G20 Compact with Africa Initiative – this is now a firmly established format for cooperation between the G20 countries and initially 13 African states.
And then there is also a new non-profit initiative called ReThinking Africa, which – in its own words – advocates a change of perspective in Germany’s view of Europe’s neighbouring continent. The initiative was launched by Stefan Liebing.
As a guest on the Deutsche Welle podcast “Wirtschaft im Gespräch”, Stefan Liebing talks about security and risks when it comes to projects in Africa. He also discusses the development of hydrogen projects in Africa and answers critical questions about corruption and alleged modern energy colonialism in Africa. Liebing says that he has opened about 100 investment conferences but has not seen 100 successful German projects in Africa. He therefore wants to move away from the political level and start thinking from the African side.
Listen to the podcast here: https://www.dw.com/de/afrika-ist-noch-immer-ein-chancen-kontinent/audio-67703548