{Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said Germany should change its view of Africa, and hinted that Kenya and Rwanda could be Germany’s focus. Steinmeier has just ended a four-day trip to the region.}<\/p>\n
Steinmeier conceded that Germany’s population perceived Africa as a continent of “crises and conflict,” but added that eastern Africa appeared to be emerging as a region of “growing political stability.”<\/p>\n
Concluding his trip in Nairobi on Sunday, Steinmeier said Germany must “reexamine” its perception of Africa.<\/p>\n
“In the German perception, in the broad public, Africa is still strongly identified as a continent of crises and conflict,” he said.<\/p>\n
“But that’s not true for the whole of Africa. Instead there are anchors of stability to which we turn with special interest,” he added.<\/p>\n
{{Appeals for greater German presence}}<\/p>\n
Steinmeier was reacting to appeals made during his trip by the governments in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Kenya that Germany should invest more in the region.<\/p>\n
Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told Steinmeier on Saturday that it was “unnatural that Germany is absent from our region.”<\/p>\n
“Where is Germany?,” she asked.<\/p>\n
She said only three former colonial nations in Europe – Britain, France and Belgium – were visible in Africa.<\/p>\n
“We want to see more presence of Germany in this region, on this continent,” she said.<\/p>\n
Visiting Tanzania in early February, German President Joachim Gauck called for more investment, more commitment to civil rights and the creation of an EU-style eastern African union.<\/p>\n
{{Kenyatta kept Steinmeier waiting?}}<\/p>\n
In Nairobi Steinmeier met with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, but reportedly only after a delay of several hours, according to the German press agency DPA.<\/p>\n
In December, the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague dropped charges against Kenyatta after the prosecution said it did not have enough evidence against him.<\/p>\n
Kenyatta and current Deputy President William Ruto were on opposing sides of the 2007 election, but joined forces to win the presidency in March 2013 polls.<\/p>\n
{{Praise for Rwandan advancements}}<\/p>\n
During his stopover in Kigali, Steinmeier visited the national memorial center, where those killed during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide are remembered.<\/p>\n
He also praised the small nation’s recent emergence as a center for technology and stressed support for the UN peacekeeping mission in neighboring DR Congo.<\/p>\n
{{ DW, AP, Reuters}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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