African Union

In a time where global partnerships are under increasing scrutiny, the African Union and Germany are demonstrating that cooperation still drives progress. Their renewed commitment in Addis Ababa marks a powerful step forward for Africa’s sustainable growth, shared prosperity, and regional integration.

Africa Skills Week 2025 ignited a continent-wide conversation on the future of work. Policymakers, youth leaders, educators, development partners, and private sector innovators came together to explore bold ideas and practical solutions for accelerating Africa’s skills transformation and preparing its workforce for tomorrow.

The GIZ project AI Made in Africa reviewed 180 open datasets curated from over 500 sources such as Kaggle and Open Africa to see how they are supporting innovation across the continent. Our team explored the African datasets landscape, emphasising open access, recency, and coverage. This is not only about numbers, it is about transforming lives, from healthcare to education, and we need your help to make it happen. Here is what is emerging in Africa’s data scene, why it matters, and how you can get involved in shaping the future.

Along the 800-kilometre Benin–Nigeria border, tensions over farmland risked escalating as boundary indicators were introduced. In response, three dialogue platforms were established, aligned with the linguistic and cultural identities of the Boo, Baatonu, and Yoruba communities.

Q-Boost, a new capacity development programme, is empowering small and medium-sized enterprises to raise their product quality. Launched across three African countries and soon expanding to two more, Q-Boost helps businesses build stronger Quality Management Systems, unlocking new opportunities for growth and cross-border trade.

A delegation of startup founders and ecosystem builders from Bavaria and Africa visited the African Union and the GIZ AI Made in Africa team to explore continental priorities in digital development, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

Malawi’s 2025 national elections marked a promising step toward a more inclusive democracy. The elections saw increased participation from women, young people, and candidates with disabilities, whose engagement and successes were supported through a civil society-led Election Situation Room and targeted training academies.

At the second Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, the Africa-European Union Energy Partnership (AEEP) co-hosted a high-level session with the Africa-Europe Foundation on “Enhancing Africa-Europe Cooperation on Energy Transition Minerals.” The Summit also marked the launch of two flagship initiatives by the African Union, the European Union, and Germany.

Germany, through GIZ and others, supports the African Union and its member states on a diverse range of related topics, such as adaptation to climate change, renewable energy, and resilient infrastructure. At the Africa Climate Summit (ACS2) in September, a German delegation led by Bärbel Kofler, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) presented Germany’s contributions and held bilateral talks with partners and financial institutions.