BMZ Marshallplan with Africa

Côte d’Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa producer. Cocoa is the country's most important export, accounting for 40 per cent of all exports. However, cocoa farmers earn so little that they have a mere 50 cents per day per family member. And many children work on the cocoa plantations instead of going to school.

With conventionally produced chocolate, only seven per cent of the value added remains with the producers. With fair trade chocolate, that figure is double. With every mug of cocoa we drink, we, the consumers in Europe, can consciously take the decision to help improve the living and working conditions of the people in Côte d'Ivoire.

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Germany has the know-how and the technologies that are needed to respond to the challenges of climate change – through efficient consumption, sustainable production and also through exporting technologies.

In Morocco, the world's biggest solar power plant is being built with German support. It will provide energy for more than 13 million people. In Egypt, the biggest wind farm in Africa is being constructed with Germany taking a leading role. It is set to give 700,000 Egyptians access to clean energy.

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Africa offers many opportunities for German and European companies. Germany’s new Agency for Business and Economic Development is the central point of contact for companies that want to get involved in developing and emerging economies.

The Agency helps companies to find financing and support instruments and build contacts on the ground, and advises them in the project planning stages. The BMZ supports these activities through numerous programmes and initiatives.

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Under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), products from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland are guaranteed tariff- and quota-free access to European markets on a permanent basis.

South Africa, as a significantly further developed country, will be given wider access to the European market than it has now. In return, these African countries will gradually open their markets over a twelve-year period for around 80 per cent of the EU’s products.

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We are working with our partners in Africa to create new jobs and training opportunities. One example is the vocational training initiative that was launched by Kenya and Germany.

As part of the initiative, Germany’s experience with the dual vocational training system will be used to adapt the Kenyan training system, which is already well established. This will create new opportunities and jobs for Kenya’s youth.

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Well-functioning municipal services and an administration that is responsive to citizens’ needs – that is what many people in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are hoping for, especially after the Arab Spring. For the countries of the Maghreb this is a mammoth task. German cities and municipalities, building on their experience, can help them to shoulder that task.

The German government is promoting partnerships between municipalities in Germany and North Africa to allow them to share their knowledge and experience. The focus is on joint projects, such as the rehabilitation of buildings, waste management or the construction of cycling paths or green spaces.

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Many countries in Africa have valuable natural resources such as oil, gas or copper. If the revenues from these resources are invested in infrastructure and social services, they benefit the whole population. But often this is not the case, and raw materials lead instead to conflicts and exploitation.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) improves financial transparency and accountability in the extractives sector. As a member of the initiative, Germany supports the EITI process and advises countries like Ghana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Malawi, Mali and Mauretania on recording and disclosing their revenues.

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The African Union plays an important role in crisis prevention and conflict resolution. It has created its own peace and security architecture, which is also supported financially by the EU.
 

Its focus is on promoting African-led peace missions, election monitoring, early detection of crises and mediation of conflicts. Successful examples include, for instance, negotiations on a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the peaceful change of government in Gambia.

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Alongside private investments, tax revenues are key to sustainable and successful development financing. This is why the Addis Tax Initiative was launched.

The initiative supports developing countries in further improving their tax and customs systems. In the long term, this helps to increase tax ratios and creates financial scope for investments in infrastructure and social services.

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People who want to take the future of their countries into their own hands and shape that future need access to education, knowledge and the digital world. Digital technology, in particular, can open up completely new opportunities.

The Uganda Coffee Farmers Alliance (UCFA), for instance, is now using a smartphone app, which was adapted by the software company SAP on behalf of the BMZ, to record and manage its coffee deliveries. 13,000 UCFA farmers are benefiting from this app. The data recorded in this way also serves as proof of income, giving smallholders access to loans and investments.

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On its reform path, the government of Niger has, among other things, built 170 new classrooms with German support. As a result, an additional 20,000 girls and boys are able to go to school.

Despite the difficult environment, this is a vital contribution to reducing the high poverty rate in Niger, which currently stands at 50 per cent.

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One aim of Germany’s support of Uganda is to improve access to financial services, especially for the poor population in rural areas. The BMZ is working with Uganda’s financial oversight authority, its banks and financial institutions, training centres and consumer associations to improve the basic financial education of the population.

Moreover, stricter laws and consumer protection regulations are helping to tighten supervision of the financial sector in Uganda and to monitor digital transactions more effectively so that not a single Uganda shilling is lost.

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With German support, the government of Ghana has launched programmes to adapt the country’s fiscal, financial and budgetary system to the principles of good governance.

Key objectives: higher tax revenues, better public budgeting, increased accountability to parliament and to the court of auditors and anti-corruption measures.

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In Namibia, 9 million hectares of land have been redistributed and given to disadvantaged people. More than 124,000 people have received land titles, almost half of them women. And it is also the women who benefit most from improved legal certainty and secure access to land.

A number of ministries and authorities, assisted by a German project team, were involved in the process.

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The BMZ is supporting 14 green innovation centres for the agricultural and food sector. At these centres, experts from the field of development cooperation, from companies, business associations and the academic community work with farmers to develop procedures for improving cultivation, reducing harvest losses and enhancing quality standards.

They are also developing new marketing methods, promoting self-organisation among farmers and increasing trade along the entire value chain – from field to fork.

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Investing in health – particularly women’s and children’s health – means investing in a country’s future. And providing women with medical care during pregnancy and childbirth also helps to strengthen their role in society. That is why Tanzania is making a great effort to improve basic medical care for women and children in particular.

Examples include health insurance for women during pregnancy and childbirth, immunisation of children and further training of medical staff. Between 1999 and 2015, child mortality in Tanzania was reduced by half.

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