Berlin: Opening of the “Compact With Africa” Summit, with the participation of Morocco
Monday, November 20, 2023 at 5:10 p.m.
Berlin – The work of the 4th edition of the G20 Summit on investment “Compact With Africa” began on Monday in Berlin, with the participation of Morocco, represented by the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch.
Speaking during the panel “Promoting value chains and local investments in Africa – the role of the German private sector”, organized as part of this event, Mr. Akhannouch underlined the importance of the Moroccan-German partnership based on strong relations which continue to strengthen in various areas, noting that German investments in Morocco increased sixfold between 2015 and 2022.
The volume of trade increased by 30% during the first quarter of the current year, or 1.5 billion euros in three months, he noted during this meeting, which took place in particular in presence of the Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, HM the King’s ambassador to Germany, Ms. Zohour Alaoui, and the president of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), Chakib Alj.
“This figure reflects the great potential of trade between the two countries and the promising opportunities in the field of investment and development of value chains,” he observed.
In this context, the Head of Government focused on the main areas of cooperation between Rabat and Berlin, in particular the automotive sector, highlighting the important role played by German companies within the framework of the Kingdom’s automotive industrial systems.
Mr. Akhannouch also highlighted Morocco’s strategy in the field of green hydrogen, stressing that “Germany can play an important role in supporting the development of this sector, thanks to its expertise”.
The Head of Government also underlined the importance given by Morocco to the development of the Afro-Atlantic space, which includes 23 countries located on the Atlantic coast, and which is part of the initiative of HM King Mohammed VI aims to strengthen the access of Sahel countries to the Atlantic Ocean.
According to him, this space “is of great importance in terms of growth and value creation, but lacks logistical infrastructure such as ports, road networks and water desalination equipment”.
For his part, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, indicated that ”Compact With Africa”, which is a G20 initiative, aims to highlight “the enormous potential of Africa, in order to achieve the global goals of climate neutrality, sustainability and economic resilience”.
“Since the creation of +Compact With Africa+ under the German presidency of the G20 in 2017, we have set a dual objective: to promote private investment and employment, and to advance reforms in partner countries, in order to prepare the ground for sustainable growth that fully benefits citizens,” noted the head of the German executive.
The economic performance of the “Compact With Africa” countries is above the African average, he said, specifying that the growth of exports from these countries was, last year, three times higher. than other countries on the continent.
The opening of this summit brought together high-level German and African representatives from economic and political circles, with a view to discussing the general deepening of their mutual economic relations, but also on concrete joint projects.
In 2017, Germany launched the “G20 Compact with Africa” (CwA). The idea behind it was that, within the framework of the CwA, the G20 cooperates closely with African partners engaged on the path of reform to achieve a common objective, namely the improvement of the general economic framework of the CwA countries, in order to increase foreign (private) investments in these countries.
In doing so, CwA countries are supported by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank. It is therefore on this basis that a unique multilateral partnership format was created which benefits all participants, according to the German executive.
