Welcome
German - Namibian Inter-governmental Bilateral Consultations on Development Cooperation
Ms. Wilhencia Uiras, Executive Director, Namibia Planning Commission and Ms. Marieke Wagenhäuser, Senior Policy Officer at the Division “Southern Africa, South Africa” of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)., © German Embassy, Windhoek
This year’s Consultations on Development Cooperation took place from 27 February 2023 to 1 March 2023 in Windhoek.
During the consultations, both parties reconfirmed the three core areas of the joint cooperation:
- Sustainable Economic Development, Training and Employment (with activity areas being private sector and financial sector development as well as technical and vocational training);
- Climate and Energy, Just Transition (with activity areas being renewable energy and energy efficiency as well as inclusive sustainable urban development);
- Conserving Nature and Natural Resources, Protecting Life on Earth (with activity areas being natural resource management - biodiversity, agriculture and integrated land management as well as water).
Further fields of cooperation outside the focal areas that were discussed during the consultations are the outgoing focal area transport and the crosscutting program Sustainable Development Goals-Initiative Namibia. The activity areas are the outcome of Namibian-German government negotiations and the main goal of development cooperation is to promote the sustainable economic development of Namibia by creating jobs and income, fighting poverty and the severe inequality in Namibia while at the same time preserving the natural resources of Namibia.
German - Namibian cooperation is aligned with the ideas and goals formulated in Namibia’s development strategies such as the National Development Plans (NDPs) and the Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) as well as the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The consultations were held in a friendly and open atmosphere and were characterized by intensive, transparent, and fruitful discussions.
Both sides highlighted the numerous concrete successes of German - Namibian development cooperation.
The German delegation also informed about the priorities of BMZs (German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) Strategy for Africa, which supports the development goals of the African Union and its member states, promotes the socially equitable and environmentally friendly transformation of African economies and seeks to address crises jointly with the neighboring European continent in a spirit of solidarity.
The two governments confirmed their commitment to further strengthen the longstanding partnership and friendship between the two countries. This is also reflected in the scale of German development funding which is the highest per capita input in Africa.
The two missions also conducted also a field trip to monitor project progress and development impact in the area of Technical and Vocational Education Training, Inclusive Sustainable Urban Development; Natural Resource Management, Agriculture and Integrated Land Management as well as Transport.
Since Namibian independence, official development assistance of Germany until 2021 amounts to about 1.5 billion Euro (roughly 29.2 billion NAD).
The consultations paved the way for the next bilateral Negotiations on Development Cooperation which are planned for June 2023 in Germany.
