Sub-Saharan Africa
The future of Africa is often regarded in a strangely unimaginative and pessimistic way. Yet Africa today is full of diversity, economic potential and innovative development.
However, the continent faces numerous challenges. As a liberal foundation, we believe that sustainable development depends on strong democratic institutions. Through our activities, we therefore promote liberal policies such as human rights, the rule of law, innovation, digitalisation and free trade.
From our offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Harare, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Abidjan and Dakar, we support partners in several African countries in advocating liberal values and implementing democratic structures.
News
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Cooperation, but not at any price
Berlin and West Africa are engaged in lively diplomatic exchanges these days. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is traveling to Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire on Monday and Tuesday. The German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, will receive the 18 members of the Sahel Alliance in Berlin on Tuesday. Germany is reaching out its hand - at a time when it is continuing to withdraw militarily. Last week, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius surprisingly and almost without comment announced the withdrawal of the remaining German troop contingent from Niger. The Bundeswehr, together with the Italians, was supposed to maintain the last Western military presence there as a military advisor and builder of a hospital in Niamey.
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ECOWAS, AES and the German troop withdrawal
Temperatures are rising in the Sahel. The climatic temperatures anyway, which have been causing unbearable heat and countless deaths for months. And there is a heated atmosphere between the countries in the Sahel region. The military coups of the last four years in six West African countries have led internally to divided societies, regionally to changed alliance constellations and internationally to a turning away from the West, especially France, and an increased dependence on "new" partners such as Russia, China and others.
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Why the former archenemies could help the country move forward
South Africa already has experience with governments of national unity: the first democratically elected government in post-apartheid South Africa 30 years ago.
It was led by the African National Congress (ANC) under President Nelson Mandela and formed a coalition with the National Party (NP), which represented the interests of a right-wing conservative white population, and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which fights for the Zulu ethnic group at a political level.
Now the time has come again. -
Black Tuesday in Kenya as Gen Z overrun parliament, police kill 14
Fourteen people were killed and Parliament torched as stalwarts of President William Ruto passed controversial tax law which has provoked a popular uprising among young Kenyans. Gen Z protestors were staging the fifth of their “seven days of rage” hold-out against Ruto government’s hard-line stance on Finance Bill 2024. In 35 of Kenya’s 47 counties, they poured out in the streets in their thousands, shouting down the government, burning and looting properties associated with ruling party MPs.
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The heavy price and sacrifice of human rights
Ugandan opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, widely known by his stage name Bobi Wine, visited Johannesburg to attend the screening of his Oscar-nominated documentary film “Bobi Wine – the People’s President”. The film recounts Bobi Wine’s participation in the 2021 Uganda presidential election that resulted not only in long-term strongman Yoweri Museveni’s fraudulently clinging to power but also a brutal crackdown on the political opposition.
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Tanzanian Maasai voices in transformative bid to tackle early marriages and GBV
Traditional female circumcisers abandon their tools and to join hands with women and male elders to end risky traditional practices. They now favour transformative socio-economic empowerment, a decision that is significantly changing the face and fate of women and girls in their community. This collective effort is fostering a safer and more equitable environment, heralding a new era of health, education, and opportunity for future generations.
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ANC loses majority after 30 years
On May 29, 2024, South Africa held elections 30 years after the abolition of apartheid. For many older South Africans, 1994 marked the beginning of a new era: the path to political enfranchisement, the first participation in democratic elections, and the liberation of the black population from decades of oppression, made possible by the leadership of Nelson Mandela and his party, the African National Congress (ANC).