The CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, hosted a high-level conference on ‘Peace, security and economic development in Africa: opportunities and challenges’, on 16 March in Berlin, Germany.
Mo Ibrahim delivered a keynote under the theme ‘Africa is changing: new opportunities and new challenges to peace, security and economic development’.
Mo Ibrahim’s overall address focussed on governance and the importance of taking a realistic approach when looking at Africa. He also covered areas of agriculture and the issue of land rights for women, infrastructure, economic integration, the continental demographic dividend, the need for employment creation as well as the rise of the African civil society.
Mo Ibrahim also shed light on what Germany can do to help Africa by:
- Encouraging German companies to invest in Africa
- Appealing to the German government to back African countries with good governance.
- Urging Germany to become a partner in dealing with the fight against corruption, with a focus on the corporate space.
The high- level conference on was attended by high-ranking guests from Africa and Germany, and to draw conclusions for German and European policy towards Africa.
Dr Mamphela Ramphele, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town and former Managing Director of the World Bank, also shared her thoughts on the same theme.
