Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/germany-g20-compact-africa-green-energy-investment-dfd9e54ee108758bc22a8ce8e842a910
Last report, I discussed the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, he established plans for the two countries to develop a trade relationship within the energy industry. In Ghana, he advocated for an intensification of existing relationships in the energy, agriculture, and technological sectors. Recently, Germany has taken these plans a step further by pledging to invest four billion euros in Africa based green energy projects until the year 2030. Scholz wants Africa to profit off of its rich natural resources, and this engagement will allow that by propelling Africa toward the economic prosperity that comes with new jobs and trade relations.
As previously mentioned, Germany’s support will be pivotal to the involved African countries. Allied with Europe’s strongest economy, they will have the resources necessary to establish themselves on the international scene. Once they have done so, they will be better equipped to advocate for themselves, fund development, and interact with dominant countries. Additionally, Germany will benefit because they will become less dependent on Russia for energy. This is important as Germany does not support Russia in the war against Ukraine. The severing of this relationship will weaken the Russian economy.
In class, we have discussed the concept of reciprocity with international relations. When states are debating whether or not to engage in a relationship, they consider whether or not they will benefit from doing so. According to the Liberalist theory, states will seek mutually beneficial, or reciprocal, relationships. In this situation, Germany and the Sub-Saharan countries have a reciprocal relationship as each is benefiting from the other. Germany gains a stable energy source, while the African countries gain an economic superpower as their sponsor.