PRESIDENT FELIX TSHISEKEDI BEGINS WORKING VISIT TO GERMANY
Head of State Felix Tshisekedi, accompanied by the distinguished First Lady Denise Nyakeru, arrived in Berlin, Germany, on Sunday for a mission focused on economic cooperation and security.
Last evening, at 7 p.m. (local time), the President of the Republic had a one-on-one meeting with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This meeting was followed by a joint working dinner with the delegations of the two countries.
At a press conference, Christiane Hoffmann, First Deputy Spokesperson of the German Federal Government, announced that the discussions will focus first on economic relations between Germany and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), particularly on “how the DRC can benefit from more private investment”.
Last year, as the 13th African country, the DRC joined the “G20 Compact with Africa” launched in 2017 by Germany. This initiative proposes a partnership approach aimed at implementing reforms that are favourable to the business environment and increasing the mobilization of private investment in member countries.
In addition, the security crisis in eastern DRC is also on the agenda. “This is a long-standing conflict where the situation has recently been aggravated by Rwanda.
The territorial integrity of the Congo must not be further violated,” Hoffmann said, adding that Germany supports Angola’s mediation efforts in the Luanda Peace Process.
The DRC enjoys fruitful friendly and cooperative relations with Germany. In 2023, in addition to its development aid of more than €200 million, Germany provided humanitarian assistance of €47 million in eastern DRC. “Despite the decrease in funding, this will remain a humanitarian priority for us in 2024,” Hoffmann said.
