Author: Toju Ogbe

The German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Müller, has unveiled his Government’s proposed “Marshall Plan” with Africa at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), saying the Plan can help resolve some of the challenges facing Africa.

Briefing the Bank’s leadership in Abidjan on Thursday, Müller noted that while Africa remains a continent of opportunity with very dynamic development and a strong and promising youth, it faces many challenges.

The Minister and his delegation arrived in Côte d’Ivoire from Burkina Faso on the second segment of an African tour which includes Tunisia and Egypt.

The continent, he said, would have to create 20 million jobs per year and expand training and education facilities for a growing population expected to reach 2 billion by 2050.

This scenario, he said, calls for a new initiative with the dimensions of a “Marshall Plan with Africa (not for Africa),” a term, which, he said, underlines the strong concerted efforts from Africa, its partners and the global multilateral system.

With the African Union’s 2063 Agenda as the framework, the Minister said the plan will focus on economic mobilization, education, training and entrepreneurship programmes that would give millions of Africans better prospects that are vital for Africa’s future and for Europe and the world.

The blueprint proposes a “new level” of equal cooperation between Africa and western countries in areas such as education, trade, business development and energy.

It also calls for better and more equitable market access for African exports, an end to illicit financial flows from Africa and tax evasion by multinational companies. The plan, he said, would further support the development of agricultural value chains within African countries to enable them derive appropriate benefits from the products, citing cotton in Burkina Faso and cocoa and coffee in Côte d’Ivoire as examples.