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Roundup: AU, Germany vow to further strengthen development cooperation

Xinhua, May 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Germany has pledged 55 million euros to support the African Union (AU) development programmes.

The pledge came here Saturday at the conclusion of two-day bilateral negotiations between AU and Germany at the headquarters of the pan-African bloc in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, whereby the two sides deliberated on cooperation areas as part of their annual political dialogue.

The latest commitment of Germany primarily focuses on agriculture development through enhancement of agricultural capacity, for which it pledged 29 million euros.

Germany pledged 21 million euros for four areas of cooperation in peace and security, good governance, pan African university, and geothermal energy, while 5 million for continental free trade area (CFTA) preparations.

The two sides have signed the agreement for their cooperation, whereby Germany provides support to AU's programmes and joint strategic initiatives.

Speaking on the occasion, Guenter Nooke, the German Chancellor's Personal Representative for Africa in the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, said Germany supports AU in its endeavor towards economic and political integration of Africa.

"One central element of what we agreed with the AU Commission today is to jointly do more in the area of agriculture training and development. Economic transformation and skills development are core objectives of our joint cooperation," he said.

"We have to do more in this regard because the creation of job opportunities is central to combat poverty and the root causes of migration," he noted.

He expressed Germany's interest to further strengthen its cooperation with AU also in other areas including African continental free trade, a market size of more than 1.2 billion consumers.

"CFTA, a free trade area from Cairo to Cape Town and from Cape Verde to Djibouti will promote intra-African trade, and will stimulate growth and employment through better incentives for domestic and foreign investment (FDI)," Nooke said, adding that"Germany, as a member of the European Union (EU) wishes to see the partnership between Africa and Europe further growing, also in this regard."

"We have also discussed in the last two days that the upcoming joint EU-Africa summit in 2017 will provide another opportunity to deepen the strategic partnership between our two continents," he said.

Fatima Haram Acyl, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry, said the two sides have also agreed to collaborate in the CFTA, for which preparation and negotiations are going on in Africa.

The AU commissioner said AU looks for continued cooperation with Germany in the areas of peace and security, good governance, the pan African university, and geothermal energy.

She said AU is keen on strengthened ties to further the Africa-Germany relationship. Endit