Africa First!
Africa does not need handouts, but positive impulses: How investments from Europe can usher in a new era of cooperation.
Africa First!
Crucial for this real development are entrepreneurs who create jobs and expand value chains. That is one of the key messages of the book „Africa First! Roadmap for a joint future“ that AFN-Co-Founder Martin Schoeller published together with the business journalist Daniel Schönwitz (in november 2020, available also in German and French).
At the heart of the „Roadmap“ is a concept for jointly mobilizing capital to build infrastructure in Africa – as a foundation on which investment and entreprenuership can flourish. And while the EU is actually launching such an infrastructure program („Global Gateway“), we now want to contribute to an investment boom. So AFN is, so to speak, an initiative to put ideas into action – and to proof that investment is the best aid.
Africa First: Reactions, Reviews, Impact
The book, whose presentation was attended by, among others, Development Minister Gerd Müller and the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has triggered a wide range of discussions. It has also provided impulses for politics:
The EU's Global Gateway is similar "to the proposals made by Martin Schoeller and Daniel Schönwitz in their book Africa First", the magazine Business & Diplomacy recently said. Here is a selection of reactions and reviews in Europe and Africa:
“Ein EU Wumms für Afrika”: Africa First as a Blueprint for the Global Gateway
“Don’t leave Africa to China and Russia!”: Martin Schoeller presents the Africa First concept in the WirtschaftsWoche magazine
“An overdue look at German and European economic strategies”: review on stern.de (“Rarely have I opened a non-fiction book with such curiosity – and read it through to the last page so captivated.”)
Review by political scientist and economist Prof. Rainer Lisowski (“The authors have succeeded in producing a practically relevant, condensed and also interesting book without cumbersome flourishes.”)
The Nambian, Namibia’s largest daily newspaper, interviews co-author Daniel Schönwitz
“Courage grows with starting”: WDR interview with Martin Schoeller
Investment and Pensions Europe Magazine (IPE) about Africa First
“Long-term solution to the poverty and refugee problem”: Generalanzeiger Bonn on the book presentation
“Investment and technology transfer from Germany as driver for economic development”: Martin Schoeller and Daniel Schönwitz discuss “Africa First” at the invitation of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIDO
„Afrika First: What opportunities does the Social Market Economy offer for Sub-Saharan Africa?“ Daniel Schönwitz at the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation for freedom
