Merkel's government is putting Africa high on its agenda of actions to be taken during its G-20 presidency
Few would have expected Africa to be the focus of Chancellor Angela Merkel's leadership of the Group of Twenty, whose presidency rotates annually. Nevertheless, she will host a 'High-Level Dialogue' of G-20 and African leaders on 12-13 June in Berlin.
There are three strands to the German initiative: the Compact with Africa, focused on trade; Pro! Africa, focused on business; and a 'Marshall plan for Africa', setting out future priorities on development aid. The centrepiece of the conference, co-chaired by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and his recently appointed South African counterpart, Malusi Gigaba, will be 'compacts with Africa'. Each G-20 government will be invited individually to make policy commitments and in return, African governments can table country-specific investment compacts. Each country is to take measures to lower investment risks.
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