Shaping the future: GIZ's impact and innovation across Africa

Last week, we held our senior management retreat, where country directors and executive management from GIZ’s Africa department came together. The retreat took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — a city that was once home to me when I served as Country Director for GIZ Ethiopia and Djibouti . It had been years since I last visited Addis, so it was fascinating to witness the changes and growth in the city since I left. And I was reminded how much I enjoyed working in Addis Abeba, in Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Horn of Africa.

Beyond the setting, I was thrilled to reconnect with former colleagues from GIZ Ethiopia, as well as those involved in the IGAD and African Union portfolios. It was also a great opportunity to catch up with our country directors, working for 德国国际合作机构 in over 40 countries across the African continent.

The retreat proved to be a productive platform to discuss the ongoing transformation of GIZ amongst the leadership team and with our Managing Director Anna Sophie Herken . We explored how we can lead the change towards digitalizing our business processes, improving our service delivery, and reshaping a digitalized operating model. Our vision is to create a faster, more effective organization through a fully digital working environment. However, there is still a considerable way to go before we achieve this goal.

We also delved into broader strategic discussions, focusing on how to increase the impact of our work, foster innovations, increase our levers, and deliver even greater value for money. The political landscape, both in Germany and across Europe, presents new challenges. International cooperation is facing growing pressure, with budget cuts and questions surrounding the legitimacy of development work. Meanwhile, global challenges continue to escalate: accelerating climate change, which disproportionately affects African countries, and extreme weather events devastating livelihoods; a debt crisis constraining fiscal space in many African nations; and the concerning reality that most SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) are off track. Progress made in poverty reduction and narrowing inequality is being reversed, and regional conflicts - such as those in the Horn of Africa - are on the rise. In times like these, international partnerships and accelerated global cooperation are more crucial than ever to chart a path toward a more sustainable future. It is in the shared interests of Germany, Europe, and countries across the Global South to work together on these issues.

We had engaging discussions with our partners from IGAD and African Union , focusing on current challenges and strategies to overcome them. It was invaluable to hear their open and honest feedback on our work, and how we can improve and amplify our joint impact.

A particular highlight was the meeting with H.E. Ambassador Fathallah Sijilmassi , Director General of the African Union Commission , where we discussed the EU-Africa partnership, and the value of our cooperation. This partnership is at the heart of the strategic interests of both continents, as neighbors facing common challenges and opportunities around economic prosperity, trade, migration, job creation, climate change, food & nutrition security, decarbonization of economies, just transition & green energy production, and geopolitical conflicts. And there is potential to even deepen the partnership. At GIZ we see ourselves as key partner and implementer of integrated solutions to overcome the challenges and harness the opportunities.

Another personal highlight of the retreat was the visit to Africa CDC . The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of the younger institutions on the continent, founded as a specialized technical entity and being transformed in the meantime into an autonomous continental health agency of the African Union. Its mission is to support public health across African countries by strengthening their capacity to detect, prevent, control, and respond quickly to disease threats - because, as we’ve learned from COVID-19, diseases pose a significant global threat to prosperity and development.

Though Africa CDC was officially launched in 2017 against the backdrop of Ebola outbreaks in 2014, it gained full momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic. We toured the laboratories and the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre, where current priorities include managing the Mpox outbreak in #DRC and neighboring countries, as well as the recent Marburg virus outbreak in #Rwanda. It was inspiring to see highly motivated and extremly capable public health experts working at the CDC, and to learn about the systems and processes they’ve built to address the challenges. Latest digital technology is e.g. applied for montoring and surveillance of public health events across countries in Africa. I regard the creation and evolution of Africa CDC as a success story of the African Union, and for a new and effectively managed public health order in Africa, saving lives and livelihoods, and creating prosperity on the continent.

I was particularly proud to hear the testimonials about GIZ’s partnership with Africa CDC, which we implement as 德国国际合作机构 on behalf of the Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) and with funding from European Commission . Our collaboration has - inter alia - focused on strengthening the continent’s capacity for vaccine and pharmaceutical production. The goal is to increase production from a baseline of just 1% of demand in 2020 to 60% by 2040, and it was encouraging to see that we are making significant progress towards this target.

The efforts of the Africa CDC and its partners will lead to stronger capacity, faster responses, and greater impact in managing public health emergencies. These efforts underscore what we’ve all come to realize - especially since COVID-19 - that pandemics are global in nature. Pandemic preparedness is a global public good, benefiting both African nations and countries in Europe alike.

I leave #Ethiopia after a fully packed week, rich of learnings and exciting dialogues. I will dwell on the insights gained in the weeks to come.

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#EuropeAfricaPartnership #AfricanUnion #Agenda2063 #TheAfricaWeWant

#GermanCooperation #TeamEurope

#GIZwirkt #AU #Ethiopia

#SDGs #SustainableDevelopment

#DigitalTransformation #Leadership