Young African talents boost German business in Africa
Who understands African markets better than Africa´s emerging leaders? GIZ puts them in touch with companies directly as part of a fellowship programme.
Berlin, 22 October 2026. Fellows in festive attire gather at Schloss Bellevue, where Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier personally bids farewell to the 14th cohort of the business initiative AFRIKA KOMMT! After an exciting time in Germany, the next step in their careers now begins for these young African talents. The fellowship is a win-win for everyone involved: the fellows, the partner companies and Germany.
Business model, not sponsorship
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has been working on behalf of large German companies since 2008 to bring together young African managers and the German private sector. The participating firms finance the initiative themselves, thereby investing in people with key contacts and knowledge of the African market.
Following a German course and several months of management training, fellowship-holders complete an eight-month professional placement at a partner company. The goal is for the young managers to return to the African labour market with fresh insights. A number of the fellowship-holders are also given employment contracts in Germany, from where they cultivate economic relations with Africa.
’The benefits to us of providing well-qualified, talented young managers with professional development in Germany and familiarising them with the processes and structures of their host company are numerous.’
Investing in people
Petty Tanghanwaye’s career illustrates what effective cooperation looks like in practice. The Togolese managing director applied for an AFRIKA KOMMT! fellowship at medical technology firm B. Braun in 2015. It was then that he first began to work with colleagues to develop a strategy for the West African market. B. Braun opened a regional office in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, in 2019, appointing Tanghanwaye to run it. As Managing Director of B. Braun Medical Ghana, he now leads a team spread across several West African countries.
Success tends to breed more success
Partnerships with AFRIKA KOMMT! benefit companies not only in terms of the impact of the fellowship itself, but also in relation to what it leads on to. For example, Tanghanwaye also helped to launch a joint GIZ project between B.Braun and other firms such as Delft Imaging, Dräger and Sysmex to promote initial training for biomedical engineers in Ghana. The project has been working since 2023 to promote upgrades to practical laboratories at universities in Ghana. The benefit to companies is twofold: they have access to better trained specialists in a market they wish to tap and they forger stronger links with local institutions.
Long-term benefit
This example is typical of a pattern seen time and again with AFRIKA KOMMT! Fellowship-holders bring with them market knowledge that would be almost impossible for companies in Germany to access, along with strong local networks and impetus for future investment. Over 400 fellowship-holders from some 30 African countries have completed the programme since its launch. For the participating companies, involvement in the AFRIKA KOMMT! initiative represents a strategic investment in young managers who are helping to shape African markets, as well as in partnerships that will continue after the fellowship period has ended.
’Unlike programmes that recruit local people directly, AFRIKA KOMMT! engenders a tremendous sense of loyalty towards and identification with companies, which facilitates long-term career planning.’
