How best to prepare for Merkel´s Africa Summit on 19th November in Berlin

Attending the Africa summit headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on 19th November?

Be prepared by reading „G20 Compact with Africa: The Audacity of Hope“, by Robert Kappel & Helmut Reisen, just released by Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation.

Download the study here: http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/15748.pdf

On 19 November, Chancellor Angela Merkel will once again welcome selected African heads of state and government to Berlin and talk to them about enhanced economic cooperation. The focus will once again be on the Compact with Africa (CwA).

The aim of the initiative launched by Germany in 2017 as part of the G20 is to improve the framework conditions for private sector investment in Africa and to pave the way for more direct investment (FDI). The Compact brings together selected African countries, international organisations (IMF, World Bank, African Development Bank) and bilateral G20 partners and focuses on country-specific reform agendas. Currently, 12 African states are part of the CwA: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.

With the study, we follow on from a publication by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in 2017, entitled "The G20 'Compact with Africa' - Unsuitable for African Low Income Countries". Already then, we pointed out insufficiencies in the CwA approach and recommended improvements. As the title of the new FES study suggests, we believe that the Compact still has clear shortcomings - and now also against the background of the data available after two CwA years.