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Afrika-Forum: Dialoge between equals

Africa Forum x 4: Milestones of an initiative


The series of conferences is aimed at the heads of state and government in pro-reform African states and at leading figures from politics, business, industry, culture, civil society and the media, and has come to provide a reliable haven of reflection and mutual trust.

 
Federal President Horst Köhler launched the Partnership with Africa initiative in 2005, together with the German foundation Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius ZEIT-Stiftung. His vision: a partnership between equals based on trust, respect and transparency. The high points of the initiative so far have been the four successful Africa conferences. The aim of these is to initiate candid and open dialogue on relations between African countries and Germany, a dialogue that also leaves room for tensions and contradictions in search of new ways to forge a genuine partnership. AgenZ has taken charge of preparing and holding three of these fora.

1st Africa Forum, The Principle of Partnership, Petersberg, Germany, 5 - 6 November 2005

2nd Africa Forum, Two Generations – One Future, in Accra, Ghana, 12 - 14 January 2007 (co-hosted by the President of the Republic of Ghana, John A. Kufuor)

3rd Africa Forum, The Challenges of Change – African and German Responses, at the Eberbach Monastery, Germany, 2 - 4 November 2007

4th Africa Forum, Barriers to partnership – and how to overcome them, in Abuja, Nigeria, on 7 - 9 November 2008 (co-hosted by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua)

AgenZ – service provider from start to finish

After the inaugural conference at Petersberg in Bonn, the Federal Presidential Office and the ZEIT Foundation commissioned AgenZ to organise Africa Forums 2 to 4.

When it came to executing the project it was necessary to tie numerous substantive and organisational strands together beforehand and to find a common denominator linking the respective conferences. Each event was the outcome of an exchange of ideas over several months and intensive advice, drawing extensively on GTZ’s worldwide contacts and networks.

For the clients, AgenZ put together a package of services covering strategy, substance, logistics and organisation, mobilising the whole of GTZ’s sectoral, regional and management know-how. The advisory services ranged from developing a suitable event format for the Africa Forums, which gave the Partnership with Africa initiative its own unique profile, to organising the events with up to 350 participants.



A valuable step forward: from Accra via Eberbach to Abuja

The greatest challenge was to define the contents of the individual conferences and translate these into suitable event formats. The response surpassed all expectations. Participants at the fourth Forum even commented that what they learnt in the course of the event brought them more profound and valuable insights than ever before. The Partnership with Africa initiative is tied to Horst Köhler’s first term of office until 2009, but it is already clear that the Africans in particular would like to see him continue with it.

More on the topic

Additional information
> http://www.partnerschaft-mit-afrika.de

Contact person

photo of employee
> Sabine Tonscheidt

Zitat

The Second Africa Forum has been a resounding success. The Federal President was extremely satisfied on his return from Accra. This success, which far outstripped our expectations, is the result of team work which could not have been better

Former State Secretary Dr. Gert Haller, Head of the Office of the Federal President

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