German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has pledged his country’s $4.4 billion support for Africa-European Green Energy Initiative at the ongoing G20 Compact with Africa Investment Summit in Berlin, Germany.
The Chancellor said that the funding would cover the initiative through 2030 with his country importing a significant portion of its green hydrogen from African countries.
Scholz advised African governments to fast-track the implementation processes of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to ease cross-border trade and other business activities across the continent.
The Chancellor said: ”This is not about development aid according to the outdated patterns of donors and recipients,” Scholz said Monday in a speech marking the opening of a Group of 20 investment summit in Berlin.
“This is about investments that pay off for both sides. For example, on the road to climate neutrality in 2045, we in Germany will need large quantities of green hydrogen and will import a large proportion of it from Africa.
“We want to continue to closely support this forward-looking project, which is why we are backing the negotiations and implementation of the agreement as the largest donor”, the German leader added.
Of the 18 African countries attending the one-day Compact with Africa (CwA) summit, 10 comprising Egypt, Ethiopia, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia are CwA member-countries, while the remaining eight countries, namely, South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Mauritius, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, and Zambia were invited as observers.
President Bola Tinubu and 17 other African leaders are currently attending the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) summit.
Over the past few months, the Nigerian leader has been exploring opportunities availed by such business for a to seal investment deals with leading global business groups and national governments by assuring investors of conducive environment for their businesses to thrive with good returns on their investments.
