5 impulses for 'Africa Policy after the German Federal Elections'
Germany’s Africa policy is facing a transition.
African governments increasingly see themselves as partners for foreign policy; however, many of the challenges presented are simultaneously foreign and developmental policy, and also climate policy as well. Civil society networks in Europe and Africa, on the other hand, look equally at European and African climate and trade policy. It is the task of the EU to respond to this and to make credible offers. But because the EU is increasingly divided internally, impulses from the ranks of the member states are more important than ever. Germany, which benefits from and supports the multilateral order, can provide such important impulses in Europe as a »co-leading power« oriented towards dialogue and crisis prevention. These would be, briefly summarized:
- Urgent sharing of vaccines and at the same time support for the development of vaccination production in Africa in order to avoid Long Covid in Africa and new viral mutations;
- Stronger foreign and development policy orientation towards multilaterally oriented democracies and their civil societies in Africa in order to promote stability;
- Conditioning of debt relief on democratic participation, not fiscal austerity, and improving decentralized access to the Green Climate Fund for the priority financing of adaptation measures, with a focus on urban areas in order to enable social participation in Africa in times of the climate crisis;
- Supporting dialogue initiatives at the local level, including with factions of armed actors, while at the same time continuously supporting peacekeeping to contain military conflicts in order to avoid »Forever Wars« in Africa; and
- Less personalization of political hope that is focused on the ostensible hopeful heads of states, and more cooperation with those who will become important in the future and who are currently protesting in order to strengthen future credibility.
Maihack, Henrik
Africa policy after the German Federal Elections
Bonn, 2021
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