GERMAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS (DGAP) PANEL DISCUSSION ABOUT CHANGE IN AFRICA
On Thursday, 20th August 2015 H.E. Sitona Abdalla Osman participated in a panel discussion at the event on “Change in Africa – A Continent of Opportunities and Risks” organized by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), Forum NRW and in Cooperation with the BHF-BANK.
Other participants in the panel discussion were Jörg Wellmeyer, member of the executive committee of the German African Business Association and managing director of the German company Strabag International GmbH, Tom Pätz, Chairman of the Free Democratic Party in the state of Northrine Westphalia and former member of the Board of the German International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, Fabian Pianke from the broadcasting service Deutsche Welle (DW) and David Mola from the company MSS Mola Solar Systems.
The talk focused on the opportunities on the rising African continent.
Opportunities especially arise in the sectors of Agriculture, Mining and Oil, Infrastructure and Consumer Goods as Africa presents an expanding market with growing demand
The risks for investors in Africa were also discussed and it was pointed out that one of the priorities for African governments to capture the momentum should be to engage in regional partnerships to diversify the risks for investors and to strengthen state institutions and provide a secure environment for foreign investment. A top priority, especially for landlocked countries such as the Republic of South Sudan should be the investment in infrastructure.
A special focus was on the East African region, and within the region, on the Northern Corridor project, which stood as an example for risk diversification through the integration of many countries from the East African Community in the realization of the transport corridor.