Join in! Partners in Transformation – our programme for the business sector

Partnerships with businesses are all about short- to medium-term projects. They are implemented jointly by various actors such as businesses, chambers, business associations and trade unions, together with the implementing organisations of development cooperation. These partners work together on equal terms, contributing to sustainable development in the partner countries of German development cooperation.

Such development partnerships bring together the innovative power of the business sector and the resources and experience of partner countries and development policy actors. Additional funding is provided and new networks created. The partnerships foster mutual learning and the transfer of modern technologies to the Global South. They open up new markets and strengthen business relationships between the partners.

There are benefits for all involved:

• Companies get access to funding, expertise and extensive development cooperation networks, both in Germany and in partner countries.
• The innovative and financial power of these companies complements development cooperation efforts, thereby increasing its effectiveness.
• Partner countries are in a better position to reach both their own goals and the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Trade unions and groups representing workers’ rights benefit from the exchange of experience and from the advice they receive from the partners with whom they work. As a result, they are able to campaign even more effectively for social and labour standards, and to promote the economic participation of women and disadvantaged groups.
• Chambers and business associations from the German private sector provide support for introducing and raising environmental and social standards, and in the field of basic and advanced vocational training. In collaboration with their partners, they develop new and sustainable services in the partner countries and work to improve vocational training and financial inclusion.

In 2024, a new “brand” was launched, bringing together all of the BMZ’s programmes for cooperation with the private sector under one joint programme: Partners in Transformation.

Some of the programmes provide advisory services and, in particular, support for the development of projects. Other programmes offer help with implementation and financing.

More detailed information can be found on the following websites:

In the past few years, various industry initiatives on the topics of food/nutrition, health, recycling and water have been launched in areas where the business sector has overlaps and connections with development cooperation. And there are many other programmes available to the German business sector:

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The Agency for Business and Economic Development with offices in Berlin and in Bonn was set up by the BMZ to provide the private sector with advisory services specifically suited to its needs.

The Agency operates at the intersection point between corporate business, business associations and development cooperation. It provides advice to private sector actors wanting to engage in work with countries of the Global South, thereby initiating new and innovative partnerships for sustainable development.

How to contact the Agency for Business and Economic Development:

Phone: +49 (0) 30 / 72 62 56 80
info@wirtschaft-entwicklung.de (External link)
www.wirtschaft-entwicklung.de/en (External link)