German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday held talks on reducing poverty and conflict with African leaders including Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and AU Chief Alpha Conde.
The talks, taking place ahead of the G20 summit in Hamburg on July 7 and 8, were attended by leaders of African countries including Tunisia, Rwanda, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.
One of the main topics of the event was an initiative to team up African nations committed to economic reforms with private investors who would bring business and jobs to the continent.
Germany’s Finance Ministry announced that it had chosen Tunisia, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire as partner countries in the project.
“Positive development in the world will not work unless all continents participate.
“We need an initiative that does not talk about Africa, but with Africa,” Merkel said.
Berlin is interested in alleviating poverty in African countries whose citizens have been among hundreds of thousands to arrive in Germany as asylum seekers over the past two years.
Germany, Europe’s biggest economy took in some 890,000 migrants in 2016.
Many thousands came from African nations including Ethiopia, Eritrea and Ghana. (dpa/NAN)
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