Catherine Sasman
7 October 2008
Windhoek — The German Embassy in Namibia last Friday celebrated Germany's 18t year of reunification.
The occasion, said Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marco Hausiku, marked Namibia and Germany evolving positive relations with the signing of a memorandum of understanding last year November for strengthened trade as well as social and cultural relations.
German's Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier launched two initiatives as part of its foreign relations policy.
The one initiative is 'Aktion Afrika' [Action Africa], which provides 20 million Euros in addition to existing cultural exchange projects and programmes in Africa.
The second, the 'Schools: Partner for the Future' (PASCH) intends to build up a network of at least 1000 partner schools worldwide to get learners interested in modern German culture, language and society.
Two partner schools in Namibia were chosen for this project: the DHPS and the Martin Luther High School in Okombahe.
Chargé d'Affaires of the German Embassy, Matthias Hansen, said Namibia has since independence been one of the major partner countries receiving funds from the German cultural preservation programme, which covers a number of projects such as the restoration of buildings and conservation of the Brandberg rock paintings, as well as written documentation of tribal traditions.
The cultural programme, he said, further aims to sustainably promote sports in Namibia through attachment programmes and the awar-ding of scholarships for Namibian coaches for courses in Germany at the Football Academy in Hennef, and the Sports Facility of the University of Leipzig.
Namibia has since independence received an equivalent of N$5 billion through the German Development Cooperation. The amount has been doubled over 2004 to 2009.
For the fiscal years 2007/2008, the German Government has provided N$1 billion to its Namibian counterpart.
Hansen said another N$100 million is earmarked for the special initiative for community-driven development in specific regions.
Another milestone in cooperation was the recently concluded agreement for the formal establishment of the micro-financing bank in the central north of Namibia.
German development cooperation was received in the form of area mapping and registering in the historical breakthrough in property rights with the first 1 000 certificates on customary land rights in a pilot project at Olukonda.
Another big project is the Ohorongo Cement factory, a subsidiary of the German company, Schwenk, which has acquired a mining license for the construction and operation of a cement factory in Otavi.
The German investment in this venture amounts to N$2,5 billion, with a projected output of 700 000 tons per year, which, said Hansen, might value up to six percent of Namibia's gross domestic product (GDP).
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