German-African industrial relations: insights and next steps

The research paper argues that German-African industrial relations are underperforming due to a skewed German perception of Africa as a crisis-ridden region rather than a diverse set of economic opportunities. It highlights the growth of several African economies and the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), while noting that German business engagement remains low and government strategies are often uncoordinated and paternalistic. The authors recommend that Germany replace aid with trade and investment, particularly in green hydrogen, and that African governments increase transparency and infrastructure to attract foreign direct investment.

• German perceptions of Africa are distorted, characterized by an underrating of potential and an overrating of risks, often reinforced by media focus on "crisis, conflict and corruption."
• African economies exhibit high diversity in industrial capacity; for example, between 2010 and 2022, Ethiopia's real per capita GDP grew by an average of 8.8% and Rwanda's by 6.7%, while South Africa and Algeria remained relatively stagnant.
• German government strategies toward Africa are described as uncoordinated and paternalistic, with the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) focusing on aid and top-down relations rather than economic partnership.
• German business engagement in Africa is limited, with only approximately 1,000 out of over 3 million enterprises pursuing interests on the continent, partly due to risk-averse banks and expensive export finance.
• There is a significant mismatch in German strategy where official development aid (ODA) is concentrated in high-political-risk countries, while German businesses prefer low-risk environments.
• The West African coast and the Sahel are identified as having high potential for producing green hydrogen for both local use and export to Germany.
• To attract more German investment, African governments are encouraged to increase transparency regarding domestic institutions and invest in infrastructure, such as harbours, airports, and railway connections.

APA

Freytag, A., & du Plessis, S. (2024). German-African industrial relations: insights and next steps. Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/german-african-industrial-relations-insights-and-next-steps

Chicago

Freytag, Andreas, and Stan du Plessis. German-African industrial relations: insights and next steps. Africa Policy Research Institute, 2024. https://afripoli.org/german-african-industrial-relations-insights-and-next-steps.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Freytag |first1=Andreas |last2=du Plessis |first2=Stan |title=German-African industrial relations: insights and next steps |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=10 September 2024 |url=https://afripoli.org/german-african-industrial-relations-insights-and-next-steps |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{freytag2024germanafrican, author = {Freytag, Andreas and du Plessis, Stan}, title = {{German-African industrial relations: insights and next steps}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://afripoli.org/german-african-industrial-relations-insights-and-next-steps}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }