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Germany relaunches Africa strategy as ties sour with Russia, China

By Xolisa Phillip, in Johannesburg

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Posted on March 2, 2023 12:41

 © German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomes South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, as guest of the outreach program at the G7 leaders’ summit at the Bavarian resort of Schloss Elmau castle, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany June 27, 2022. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomes South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, as guest of the outreach program at the G7 leaders’ summit at the Bavarian resort of Schloss Elmau castle, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany June 27, 2022. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS

Africa is emerging as an attractive trading partner for Germany amid a global realignment forced by Russia’s war with Ukraine and growing concerns with supply chain reliance on China.

Christoph Kannengiesser, CEO of the Berlin-based German-African Business Association (Afrika-Verein), tells The Africa Report that German businesses have long overlooked the continent in favour of lucrative markets elsewhere. But rising tensions with Moscow and Beijing have forced a rethink and put the region in a new, positive light.

“Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine represents a clear break in German foreign and economic policy,”

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