Who does DG Trade think it is?

By Afrika, , , ,
Image: EU Kommission HQ

Africa is being blackmailed

The next EU-Africa summit is due to take place in Abidjan in November. This requires a vision of peaceful, legal partnership with and for each other. This can only be the creation of self-supporting economic development in Africa. Although development cooperation has a catalytic function here, private investments are decisive. In this case, it is advisable to ask oneself the following: which elements of mutual interest can and should we change? The EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements with African countries and country groups should be named in this context as an example.

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The world of official data and statistics: not yet dead!

By Zukunft der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, ,
Image: Binary Data

Data and statistics; not yet dead

Recently, it has become popular to question the relevance of “statistics” to make sense of the evolving nature of today’s world. A recent article in the Guardian claimed that “rather than diffusing controversy and polarisation, it seems as if statistics are actually stoking them”. The credibility of “official statistics” on GDP, poverty or migration flows gets questioned as they seem to not be in line with what citizens experience in their daily lives. Nor do they seem able to capture how large parts of the population “feel” about societal developments.

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The G20 and Africa: Developing Industrial Capacity

By G20, , , ,
Image: Industrial warehouse

Supporting Industrialisation in Africa

When they met in Hangzhou, China in September 2016, the G20 leaders launched the Initiative on Supporting Industrialisation in Africa and Least Developing Countries. It is certainly one on which Germany can build in the course of its own presidency in 2017. And hence, important that Germany sustain the momentum of this Initiative.

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Bundeswehr und Entwicklungszusammenarbeit: Gemeinsames Engagement für fragile Staaten

By Zukunft der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit, , ,
Image: Airbus A310

Beiträge zur Stabilisierung

Das Zusammenspiel von Entwicklungspolitik, Militär und anderen Akteuren beim Krisenengagement in fragilen Staaten entwickelt sich positiv, das zeigt das Beispiel Mali. Dennoch ist eine Weiterentwicklung angeraten, die abgestimmtes und koordiniertes Planen und Handeln konsequent auf Krisenprävention ausrichtet. Dabei hat die Gemeinsamkeit Priorität. Das neue Weißbuch zur Sicherheitspolitik und zur Zukunft der Bundeswehr weist hierfür den Weg.

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The G20 and Africa

By G20, ,

Africa and the German G20 presidency

The German government has identified deeper cooperation with Africa as one of the top priorities for its G20 presidency. Against this background, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), as the coordinators of the T20 process in 2016/17, together with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), are hosting the T20 Africa Conference: Building alliances for sustainable development on 1-3 February in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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