G20 Summit: German Chancellor, Scholz, Pledges $4.4 billion for Africa-EU Green Energy Initiative

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged $4.4 billion for Africa-European Green Energy Initiative.

Scholz made the pledge at the ongoing G20 Compact with Africa Investment Summit in Berlin, Germany.

Persecondnews reports that President Bola Tinubu and 17 other African leaders are currently attending the G20 Compact with Africa (CwA) summit, at the JW Marriott Hotel in Berlin.

According to him, the funding will cover the initiative through 2030 with Germany importing a significant portion of its green hydrogen from Africa.

He advised African countries to speed up the implementation processes of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to ease businessi within the continent.

Of the 18 African countries attending the one-day Compact with Africa (CwA) summit, 10 nations, namely; Egypt, Ethiopia, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia are CwA member-countries, while the remaining eight countries, namely, South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Mauritius, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, and Zambia were invited as observers.

Scholz said: ”This is not about development aid according to the outdated patterns of donors and recipients,” Scholz said Monday in a speech marking the opening of a Group of 20 investment summit in Berlin.

“This is about investments that pay off for both sides. For example, on the road to climate neutrality in 2045, we in Germany will need large quantities of green hydrogen and will import a large proportion of it from Africa.

“We want to continue to closely support this forward-looking project, which is why we are backing the negotiations and implementation of the agreement as the largest donor.”