Sixty Years of German-Ghanaian relations
Ghana and Germany have enjoyed friendly and wide-ranging political relations since Ghana became independent in 1957. Since the beginning of the country’s democratisation in 1992, German-Ghanaian relations have acquired a special quality.
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In terms of democratic principles, good governance, the rule of law, respect for human rights and maintaining domestic stability, Ghana compares well with other countries in the region.
Ghana is a priority country of German bilateral development cooperation. The German technical cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – GIZ) has had an office in Accra since 1983 and the KfW Development Bank and the Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG) also have offices in the city.
In addition, the DW Akademie and the Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation are engaged in development cooperation with Ghana.
Economic relations
Ghana is Germany’s third largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, after South Africa and Nigeria, though it is well behind these two countries.
The country’s bilateral trade with Germany grew from €470 million in 2014 to €536 million in 2015. There was an increase in both German exports to Ghana (from €265.5 million in 2014 to €266 million in 2015) and German imports from Ghana (from €205 million in 2014 to €270 million in 2015).
The DEG, which has had its own office in Ghana since 2008, offers support to small and medium-sized companies in particular.
The future of bilateral economic relations will be dominated by the following sectors: renewable energy, recycling and sanitation management and sustainable development.
Development cooperation
German development cooperation with Ghana focuses on the following priority areas, namely
- Governance (advice on drafting policies and their implementation on a decentralised basis, local-level funding, advice on good public finance management)
- Agriculture (advice on drafting policies, production and marketing, rural funding)
- Sustainable economic development (in particular financial system development and vocational training).
At the intergovernmental negotiations in June 2015, it was also agreed to extend cooperation to include solid waste management, in particular the recycling of electrical and electronic waste.
In December 2015, Germany pledged €5 million to fund a corresponding programme under Technical Cooperation.
Doing Business with Germany
On the occasion of the commemoration of Ghana's 60th independence anniversary, the Ghanaian-German Economic Association (GGEA), under the auspices of the German Embassy, is organising a business forum dubbed: "Doing Business with Germany".
The forum is to help create a greater awareness of the business opportunities in Germany and how the business community in Ghana can take advantage of these numerous opportunities.
It will also serve as a platform for the various German institutions to educate the business community about their products and services and how the private sector can benefit from them.
The German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Christoph Retzlaff, will deliver the keynote address, with the Minister of Business Development, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, gracing the occasion as the guest speaker.
Other speakers at the event include the West Africa Regional Director of DEG, Mr Martin Mainz; the Country Director of GIZ, Mr Alan Walsh, and Deputy Managing Director of Hospital Engineering GmbH, Mr Johannes Bockmann.