Many of the global challenges that we are facing today can only be tackled by joining forces with strong African partners. Africa offers unique opportunities; the continent has huge potential. Roughly half of the world’s 20 fastest growing economies are in Africa. By 2035, Africa will have the largest potential workforce in the world. This is where the global markets, customers and employees of the future are emerging.

Therefore, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has taken a new direction in its cooperation with the countries of Africa. Over the past few months, fresh and important stimulus has been provided to cooperation with the continent by the Marshall Plan with Africa, initiated by the BMZ. The Marshall Plan will enable a new partnership between Africa and Europe to emerge – a partnership that goes far beyond traditional, project-based development cooperation.

At the beginning of the year, the Ministry initiated a discussion on the cornerstones of the Marshall Plan through an online dialogue with representatives from the business sector, science and academia, churches, civil society and policymakers. This dialogue generated a wealth of suggestions and ideas for taking our cooperation to this new dimension.

The aim of the BMZ is to strengthen the African states' own development capacity since sustainable development can only be achieved if it originates and is driven from within. Therefore, governments need to initiate reforms and live up to their responsibility towards their people. The goal is to create favourable conditions so that private and public investment can bear fruit.

These conditions must include respect for human rights and the rule of law, and also education and economic stability. African countries themselves have set forth these goals in the African Union's Agenda 2063. Now they need to be supported in putting their innovative strategies into practice.

The following subchapters contain examples illustrating how the BMZ is implementing the Marshall Plan with Africa, the original text of the Marshall Plan and an overview of the online dialogue:

• selected examples of how the Marshall Plan with Africa is being implemented
• implementation examples: photo gallery
• original text of the Marshall Plan with Africa
• online dialogue: your feedback and comments

Links to the different language versions of the Marshall Plan with Africa

The cornerstones of a Marshall Plan with Africa (as at January 2017) can be found here or downloaded here (PDF 1.6 MB).

You can find cross-section of the comments made on the key issues addressed in the Plan and some of the views expressed here (in German only).

Sie finden die deutsche Fassung (Stand Januar 2017) des Marshallplan mit Afrika hier (PDF 1,6 MB).

Vous trouvez la version française (mise à jour du janvier 2017) du Plan Marshall avec l'Afrique ici (PDF 1,7 MB).

See also

• "The cornerstones of a Marshall Plan with Africa – A new partnership for development, peace and a better future": Speech by Federal Minister Gerd Müller at the German-African Business Summit, 9 February 2017 in Nairobi
• "The key elements for a Marshall Plan with Africa" – Speech by Federal Minister Müller at the Dialogue with African Ambassadors in Germany, 24.11.2016 in Berlin
• "Jalons d’un plan Marshall avec l’Afrique" – Discours du Ministre fédéral Gerd Müller au Dialogue avec les ambassadeurs africains en Allemagne, le 24.11.2016 à Berlin