Dusseldorf, 17/09/2024: Together with Andreas Freytag, Stefan Liebing has written a guest article for Wirtschaftswoche about Germany’s misguided (foreign) policy.
Migration pressure on Europe is increasing. Development policy must now change course quickly.
The authors point out that many developing countries have recently been hit hard economically by crises and the effects of climate change. As a result, many countries have had to increase their debts and put their creditworthiness at risk. Together with high interest rates, it is becoming increasingly difficult to invest in infrastructure projects, for example. High inflation is also hitting young people particularly hard.
The developments on the African continent are also affecting Europe. Among other things through growing waves of migration. However, Africa is also of great importance as a supplier of critical raw materials, as a source of cheap green hydrogen, as a destination for IT outsourcing and as a target market for the German economy.
Liebing and Freytag are calling for a rethink in German development policy and more investment in jobs and economic growth.
“A successful economic policy is the best security and foreign policy. Unfortunately, the German government in Berlin is doing the opposite.”
While the stricter capital requirements for banks when granting loans (Basel IV) make investments in high-risk countries almost impossible, the new supply chain regulations mean that almost a third of German companies want to reduce their involvement in such regions. The authors suggest enabling investments that facilitate financing and hedge risks instead of distributing these funds as grants for projects with dubious benefits. Liebing and Freytag note that there is great interest in German investment projects in developing countries and that German SMEs are already involved in these countries, but are struggling with bureaucracy, financing and a disinterested German government. It is therefore time for an interest-oriented (foreign) policy.
Source: https://www.wiwo.de/my/politik/ausland/migration-schaut-auf-die-krisen-in-afrika/29991006.html