German economic exchange with Africa today lags behind its potential. Only around 2% of German foreign trade is with Africa and German investment on the continent stands only at a fraction of that from many of its’ European neighbours. Over the past years various players in the German economy, from corporations to government entities and associations, have taken steps to enhance this engagement. The German “Mittelstand” (small and medium sized enterprises) as the backbone of the German economy will also have a crucial role to play. In order to support this drive, africon contributed to the development of the “Mittelstandsindex Afrika” and presented it as part of a panel organised by the “Agentur für Wirtschaftliche Entwicklung (AWE)” in Berlin on Oct 24, 2019. Erik Deitersen, Senior Consultant with africon, thereby represented the development team of the index (BRS Institute, BVMW and Nexia) on the panel and shared perspectives on the “Mittelstand’s” engagement in Africa.
We thank the organisers for providing us with the platform to share our tool and perspectives.
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