Merkel will not be sidetracked by US in the drive for compact with Africa

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to establish a 'Compact with Africa' during her 2017 G20 presidency to foster genuine partnerships based on agreed goals and performance standards. The initiative aims to create stable investment environments for infrastructure development while addressing mutual responsibilities in migration, corruption, and counter-terrorism. Key priorities for the compact's success include funding the Green Climate Fund to help African nations adapt to global warming, curbing illicit financial flows—estimated by the AU/UN to exceed $50 billion annually—and utilizing the African Peer Review Mechanism for governance monitoring. The document notes that US reluctance toward multilateralism under Donald Trump complicates these efforts, particularly regarding famine relief and climate finance.

• The 'Compact with Africa' is intended to move beyond aid to 'genuine partnerships' by establishing agreed goals, obligations, and performance standards, specifically aiming to create stable environments for investment in infrastructure development.
• A critical priority for the compact is ensuring the Green Climate Fund is adequately funded to assist African nations with climate change adaptation, though the fund's $10 billion start-up budget and $100 billion annual target by 2020 have been threatened by the withdrawal of US support.
• The compact's success may depend on curbing illicit financial flows; an AU/UN report indicates more than $50 billion in taxable money leaves Africa annually, while UNECA estimates over $800 billion left the continent between 1970 and 2008.
• The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is identified as a tool to provide monitoring and local context for judging the performance of African partners within the compact's projects.
• Urgent humanitarian needs, specifically famine threatening approximately 20 million people in East and Northeast Africa and parts of Nigeria, present a pressing challenge that could be addressed through a joint G20-Africa political campaign.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2017). Merkel will not be sidetracked by US in the drive for compact with Africa. https://saiia.org.za/research/merkel-will-not-be-sidetracked-by-us-in-the-drive-for-compact-with-africa/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Merkel will not be sidetracked by US in the drive for compact with Africa. 2017. https://saiia.org.za/research/merkel-will-not-be-sidetracked-by-us-in-the-drive-for-compact-with-africa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Merkel will not be sidetracked by US in the drive for compact with Africa |date=7 July 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/merkel-will-not-be-sidetracked-by-us-in-the-drive-for-compact-with-africa/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2017merkel, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Merkel will not be sidetracked by US in the drive for compact with Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/merkel-will-not-be-sidetracked-by-us-in-the-drive-for-compact-with-africa/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }