PRESS RELEASE
Merkel Raises Sino-German Joint Projects in Africa in G20 Ambit
July 10, 2017 (EIRNS)—German Chancellor Angela Merkel mentioned joint projects between Germany and China three times last week: At the press conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Berlin on July 5; at the first review press conference at the G20 Summit in Hamburg on July 7; and the next day at the concluding G20 press conference. Next to Angola, where Germany and China will build a hydropower complex, she mentioned Rwanda, and more projects "in the pipeline for Angola."
Merkel did not go into any more details, but the Angola hydropower project is the Caculo Cabaca Water Dam at the Kanzi River, with a capacity of more than 2,100 megawatts. A loan for the project was okayed by China Development Bank in 2016—potentially, here as in other future projects, Deutsche Bank which has signed a Silk Road cooperation agreement with the Chinese bank a few days before the G20 Summit, may become a partner. It is interesting that Merkel said cooperation with China is important since the Chinese know something about how development works.
Helga said today that there are at least two reasons for this new interest in Germany for developing Africa. One, is that the refugee crisis has returned with a vengeance. Second, China has so transformed Africa with real physical development that Germany can no longer ignore it, but must get involved.
