Focus On Africa

Africa was one of the major topics at the G8 summit held under German presidency in Heiligendamm in June this year. In the coming years the leading industrialized nations and Russia want to provide 60 billion dollars (44.5 billion euros) solely for the fight against infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. It was mainly foreign observers who interpreted the fact that Germany had given Africa such a central place on the G8 agenda as a prioritization of the continent in German foreign policy. In fact, Africa is playing an increasingly greater role in German policy. Until the end of the 1990s it was the generally accepted view that Germany had no economic and strategic interests in Africa and was only involved there primarily for moral and altruistic reasons. Africa policy was largely centred in the field of development policy. There are five main reasons that have led to a reappraisal of Africa's role. Two of them, however, are only rather indirectly connected with the continent itself: first, the expansion of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) of the European Union and, second, the development of a new understanding of Germany's role in international relations. Germany has always advocated a strengthening of both the CFSP and ESDP – and France and Great Britain, but also Portugal and a number of other European Union countries view Africa as a prime region for a common foreign and security policy. Historical ties play a role in this, but so do the fact that the EU countries easily reach consensus in their Africa policy. This is strengthened further by the emerging new role perception of German foreign policy. Shaping the global order and global processes is increasingly viewed as one of its primary tasks.

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