Ghanas allgemeine Wahlen 2024: Kontext und Themen (EN) | Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI)

This policy brief examines the foreign and development relations between Africa, the European Union (EU), and Germany, arguing that these relationships are still characterized by 'coloniality'—the persistence of unequal power dynamics and colonial logic. The author analyzes how EU and German policies in security, raw material acquisition, and development aid often marginalize African agency, prioritize European economic interests, and employ 'saviourism' through top-down interventions. The document provides specific case studies from Mauritania, Mali, South Sudan, Namibia, and Zambia to illustrate these dynamics and concludes with recommendations for genuine decolonization, including respecting African demands on trade and resource beneficiation.

• The relationship between the EU and the African Union (AU) is characterized by a power imbalance where the EU maintains a dominant role in decision-making and models the AU in its own image, effectively reducing African agency.
• EU foreign policy towards Africa is heavily influenced by the 'security-development nexus,' which has led to the 'Europeanisation' of security policies where former colonisers like France, Germany, and the UK dominate international missions.
• The EU's 'Neighbourhood, Development, and International Cooperation Instrument' (NDICI) is criticized for dividing Africa into 'Neighbourhood South' (North Africa) and sub-Saharan Africa, a demarcation that the author argues weakens collective African diplomacy.
• EU development policy is closely linked to the acquisition of 'critical raw materials' (CRMs), leading to preferential treatment for resource-rich countries like South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which undermines regional collective bargaining.
• Case studies in Mauritania, Mali, and South Sudan reveal that EU development projects often marginalize local agency by allowing the EU to unilaterally decide funding areas, locations, and targets, while prioritizing European qualifications for staff.
• Germany's foreign policy in Africa is described as being in 'lockstep' with France, with Germany providing high-ranking officers to EU missions and maintaining a military presence that the author suggests is more about strategic information gathering than security.
• There are allegations that German companies and intelligence agencies have engaged in the 'exploitation of African resources' by attempting to traffic or patent indigenous medicines in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa.
• The G20 'Compact with Africa' (CwA) is criticized for being selective and self-serving, focusing on a small group of 13 countries and prioritizing investment reforms that benefit investors through tax exemptions rather than African industrialization.
• Germany's support for the AU Border Programme is viewed as a way to revive colonial legacies and secure access to raw materials, particularly in territories with oil, petroleum, and gas projects.
• In Namibia, Germany's approach to reparations for the 1904-1907 genocide is cited as an example of coloniality, as Germany initially insisted on dictating how funds were used and refused to negotiate directly with affected communities.
• German development implementation via GIZ in Namibia and Zambia is described as 'intrusive,' with officials micromanaging projects and ignoring national development priorities in favor of smaller, 'tokenistic' projects.
• The author recommends that the EU and Germany decolonize their policies by respecting African demands on the Samoa Agreement, supporting African industrialization, and ending the practice of placing Europeans in lead positions for funded projects.

APA

Gwatiwa, T. (2024). Ghanas allgemeine Wahlen 2024: Kontext und Themen (EN) | Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI). Africa Policy Research Institute. https://afripoli.org/de/ghanas-allgemeine-wahlen-2024-kontext-themen-en

Chicago

Gwatiwa, Tshepo. Ghanas allgemeine Wahlen 2024: Kontext und Themen (EN) | Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI). Africa Policy Research Institute, 2024. https://afripoli.org/de/ghanas-allgemeine-wahlen-2024-kontext-themen-en.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gwatiwa |first1=Tshepo |title=Ghanas allgemeine Wahlen 2024: Kontext und Themen (EN) | Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI) |publisher=Africa Policy Research Institute |date=27 November 2024 |url=https://afripoli.org/de/ghanas-allgemeine-wahlen-2024-kontext-themen-en |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gwatiwa2024ghanas, author = {Gwatiwa, Tshepo}, title = {{Ghanas allgemeine Wahlen 2024: Kontext und Themen (EN) | Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI)}}, institution = {Africa Policy Research Institute}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://afripoli.org/de/ghanas-allgemeine-wahlen-2024-kontext-themen-en}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }