G20 Compact With Africa Summit Points to Slow Investor Appetite

African leaders used the G20 Compact with Africa summit in Berlin to call attention to Africa's need for more investment and for "positive competition" between Europe and China, writes Kate Hairsine for Deutsche Welle.

The need for internal investment among African nations is "colossal," according to African Union (AU) Chair Azali Assoumani, who said that while investment in African nations from G20 countries is inching above pre-pandemic levels, it still falls "far short" of the record amount of almost U.S.$53 billion (€48.4 billion) reached in the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

African countries have long complained that while European nations talk a great deal about investment, their companies are slow to put money into Africa.

Out of the 18 African countries attending the one-day Compact with Africa (CwA) summit, 10 nations, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia are CwA member-countries, while the remaining eight countries, namely, South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Mauritius, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, and Zambia were invited to the summit as observers.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu welcomed new trade agreements with Germany, including a deal that calls for the West African nation to export liquid natural gas.