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Dossier

Dossier

Africa – a continent of opportunities

Droughts, famine and wars – this is what we often associate with Africa. But in many countries, the economy is growing rapidly, and a new middle class is developing. In our dossier ”Africa – a continent of opportunities“ we look on projects that show self-confident people who start off. Learn how engineers in the Moroccan desert built the world's largest concentrated solar complex, how rangers in the KaZa nature conservation park protect wildlife across borders and how a Nigerian entrepreneur took off with children's clothing.

Image-Reference

On our website, pictures taken, among others, by the following photographers/photo agencies are used:

Agentur photothek.net, Deutsche Messe Hannover, Andreas Arnold, Jörg Böthling, Dominik Butzmann, Carsten Costard, Susanne Esche, Charlie Fawell, Rendel Freude, Torsten George, Gaby Gerster, David Greedy, Peter Himsel, Barbara Högner, Frank Homann, Fred Hoogervorst, Steffen Jagenburg (BRANSCH EUROPE), Thomas Klewar, Studio Kohlmeier , Florian Kopp, Georg Lopata, Jürgen Lösel, Kirsten Milhahn, Rüdiger Nehmzow, Rolf Obertreis, Rubén Arnaldo Farina Ortiz, Holger Peters, Joachim Röttgers, Mika Schmidt, Bernhard Schurian, Jens Steingässer, Pietro Sutera, Uwe Tölle, Jan Zappner.

Fotolia.com: amandare, Yuri Arcurs, Kitch Bain, Ingo Bartussek, Sergio Donà, drizzd, Dmitry Ersler, eyewave, Zoltán Futó, Eric Gevaert, Fotolia XXV, Friedberg, goodluz, Dirk Hoffmann, imageteam, Christian Jung, Abdelhamid Kalai, Sergej Khakimullin, Vladimir Kolobov, krizz7, Kzenon, lumen-digital, marog-pixcells, Mindwalker, Miredi, mirpic, Nebuto, Tino Neitz, Christian Pedant, Franz Pfluegl, prognone, Gina Sanders, Henry Schmitt, spree berlin, SVLuma, Kheng Guan Toh, tom, Torbz, typomaniac, VRD, Joachim Wendler, Sreedhar Yedlapati.

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Solar power from the desert

Morocco is harnessing this potential to free itself from fossil fuels with concentrated solar power plants. This is exemplary from an emerging country, and a bold step that is supported by international donors like KfW.

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To the article about Ethiopia’s vision
Ethiopia

The rise of Ethiopia

Something is happening in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is aiming to move up into the ranks of the emerging economies by 2025. This grand vision is receiving support with a broad-based commitment from KfW.

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"Good reasons to be optimistic"

Drinking water at public standpipes, new jobs, higher school enrolment rates: Helmut Gauges, member of KfW Development Bank’s Management Committee responsible for Africa, talks about the continent's progress and opportunities.

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Martin Bauer Group Zimbabwe

Fair and organic from Zimbabwe

Together with its local partner Organic Africa, tea merchant Martin Bauer Group from Middle Franconian is growing organic herbs, spices, medicinal and aromatic plants in Zimbabwe. A signalling pilot project, supported by DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH.

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Senegal - solar panel in Africa

Reform partnerships for a strong Africa

Strengthening personal accountability, promoting the economy and creating more jobs: the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has established a new cooperation model to implement Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

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Ellizabeth Rantoetse at her sink

Cape Town’s road to clean water

Cape Town's sewage plants are overburdened. The city' s wastewater often flows unfiltered into the sea. The outdated sewage treatment plants are now being modernised. It is the first project of the European Clean Oceans Initiative.

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Construction Awash Kombolcha Hara Gebaya railway

Ethiopia’s new rail connection

Ethiopia is a country of contradictions. While in a few big cities – above all in Addis Ababa – the economy is flourishing, in rural regions, around six million people still depend on food aid. Read how a new railway line in Ethiopia will help reduce disparities.

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Vivian becomes an engineer

An initiative promoted by KfW and JICA intends to improve Africa's higher education landscape. This includes expanding the Pan African University (PAU). Vivian Ogechi is a Nigerian citizen and was among the first to graduate in Algeria from the university established in 2013.

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Boy with tablet

Tablets for talent development

In Malawi there are school classes with up to 250 pupils. Targeted support of individual students is hardly possible. A pilot project aims to improve the educational situation in Malawi with the help of tablet computers.

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M-BIRR

Safe and cashless payments

With M-BIRR, Ethiopians can now transfer money using their mobile phones without having a traditional bank account or Internet access.

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KOKO Networks - e-commerce at the kiosk

ATMs for clean cooking fuel

KOKO Networks has built technology to transform the market for urban cooking fuel – with major environmental and social benefits.

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People in a village in Ghana using e-zwich

Digital payments – even with no internet

Many people in Ghana use cash only, especially in rural areas. Thanks to a new cash card with fingerprint ID, finance in Ghana is now more secure and efficient.

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Smartphone in Togo

Citizens survey via SMS

In one of Togo's largest cities, citizens provide their views about current city planning projects via text message. Whether in regard to waste disposal or restoring marketplaces, mobile phones are facilitating civic participation.

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Geothermal power plant Olkaria

Kenya becomes a pioneer in green energy

To expand its power supply, Kenya intensifies investments in renewable energy. We spoke to Michael Andres, an energy expert at KfW, about Kenya's quantum leap from emergency power diesel generators to geothermal power plants.

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To the article "Using knowledge to combat erosion"
Banking of agricultural land in Ethiopia

Using knowledge to combat erosion

Agricultural land in Ethiopia has to feed more and more people. To stop the degradation of their land, many farmers are actively committed to a KfW project that promotes sustainable land management and ensures water supply in their country.

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Elephant in Africa

The wild

In southern Africa, five countries maintain the largest cross-border nature conservation area in the world – in spite of all their political differences. One of the triggers for this cooperation was elephants. Too many elephants.

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Article about a Nigerian woman took off with children's clothing
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The rocky road to her own flagship store

Adenike Ogunlesi owns Nigeria’s leading children’s clothing brand. It was only when she received financial support from long-standing DEG customer Access Bank, that the entrepreneur was able to take off.

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Growth driver Kenya

In Kenya cuttings are cultivated before they grow into geraniums, carnations or poinsettias at the horticultural nursery Selecta one, near Stuttgart. The Swabian garden company Selecta one flourishes mainly thanks to its bridge building with the African continent.

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Africa's largest center for air freight

Ethiopia's booming export economy is delighted about Africa's largest centre for air freight – which was planned and furnished by Unitechnik, a medium-sized company from Germany.

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Drummer Senegal

Promoting peace in Casamance

Peace has been under threat for decades in Casamance, a region in southern Senegal. Financial Cooperation (FC) pioneered the reconstruction of the social and economic infrastructure – a project that was well received by the local population.

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To the article on development cooperation in DR Congo
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Jobs to bring about peace

Many people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo know nothing but a life afflicted by armed conflict and threats to their lives. The KfW Peace Fund is helping to build up a functioning civil society, offering alternatives to combat and crime.

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To the article about mobile labs in Africa
mobile laboratories in africa

Mobile laboratories in Africa

The German Federal Government, KfW and the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine have joined forces to detect impending epidemics in East Africa at an early stage. To this end a regional network of mobile laboratories is being set up for Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Southern Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. And now, in the corona crisis, the technology is much-needed.

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To the article about the Social Cash Programme in Malawi
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Escaping extreme poverty

The Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) exists to help ensure that the basic needs of the poorest families in Malawi are met. KfW has now been investing in the programme for ten years. Three striking examples show how people’s lives have changed as a result.

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Minimising birth-related risks in Malawi

Minimising birth-related risks

Our interactive world map shows that mortality rates among mothers are very high in Malawi. That is why KfW is supporting an initiative to make sure women are transferred to health stations in time to give birth.

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Bridge over the Zambezi shot from the riverside, looking up

Bridging the Zambezi

The minefields at the heart of Africa are over a 1,600-mile journey from Namibia’s Atlantic coast. For Namibia, the bridge over the Zambezi at Katima Mulilo is a symbol of freedom and cornerstone of economic development.

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Joseph Mbuyi

Africa is on the move

Globalisation is not passing Africa by. Investments in the continent are turning out to be increasingly attractive, according to Joseph Mbuyi, Director of the KfW IPEX-Bank Representative Office in Johannesburg. He finds the continent's development encouraging.

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