African access to European markets challenges German government

As far as concrete steps toward a new Africa strategy are concerned, Schuster wants to improve ties with the African Union by establishing a structural bond within the organization's office in Addis Ababa. She also argued for increased support through police and military training in order to help African efforts to build up their own security structures.

To strengthen human rights as a pillar of German foreign policy, Schuster urged not only to monitor human rights closely in Africa but also to cooperate with the African Court of Human Rights, which took up its work in 2006.

Germany should address its colonial past in Africa, suggests an expert

Human rights issues for Africans should also be tackled closer to home, Koessler said.

"Something I would also want to see is a complete reversal of - but I know it's utopian at this time - the border regime in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic in terms of fending off fugitives," he said. "That is simply one point where human rights are violated on a daily basis in a very drastic way."

Changing the EU's border patrol policies and practices may indeed be a goal that can be achieved only in the long term and on a European level. But one step Germany could take alone and would be well received in Africa would be to stand up to its responsibility as a former colonial power and talk to descendents of those who suffered under German rule, Koessler said.

"Especially in Namibia, which is a small country, but where I think one could make an impact and show that one approaches Africa in a different way than it is normally done in Europe still today."

Author: Michael Knigge

Editor: Rob Mudge