By John Njiraini
German Chancellor Angela Merkel visit to Kenya on Tuesday lacked the fanfare and pomp that characterise most visits by heads of state from Europe, Asia and the Americas.
On the surface, this might be interpreted as a failure on the part of Government to generate hype ahead of the visit, more so considering that this was the first ever visit by Merkel since her election as first woman German Chancellor in 2005 through Christian Democratic Union Party, which is ruling through a coalition with the Social Democrats.
But beneath, the subdued meetings with President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende represent the subtle, guarded and calculative approach that Merkel has projected throughout her political career.
Being the first chancellor from the communist East, Merkel has been described by most Germans as boring and old-fashioned. This, according to objective critics, emanates from the fact that she’s a scientist by profession, as she holds PhD in physics.
Yet, despite her often doing injustices to fashion, Merkel is a ‘strong willed’ woman and is in fact a powerful voice in European issues and the most authoritative among the 16 Euro zone countries, which have at least four nations — Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain — battling foreign debt crises.
This is because Germany is the leading economy in Europe and ranked fourth in the world after United States, China and Japan.
Underserved market
So, the big question is why is Germany interested in Africa? Besides Kenya, her three-day tour of Africa also took her to Angola and Nigeria, key producers of oil.
It is imperative to note that the German economy, which is heavily dependant on the manufacturing sector, was badly ravaged by the global economic crisis in 2008, but has since retuned to a strong growth path.
To sustain this boom, Germany is in dire need for not only resources, but also new markets for her products that include cars, industrial and power machinery, furniture and kitchenware.
Thus in deciding to visit Kenya, a country that has been on an aggressive drive to invest in renewable energies like solar, wind and geothermal, Germany sees a market that is ripe for her technologies. It’s no doubt that Germany has invested heavily on renewable energy technologies and Kenya offers a market for these technologies.
And for her to visit Kenya personally, Merkel was able to propagate and push for the interest of Germany companies.
In Angola and Nigeria, Germany might be targeting for a scramble of oil and gas to fuel her industries. The visit by Merkel is therefore an indication that Germany has decided to compete with China, India and Japan for Africa’s resources. Africa has hundreds of millions of underserved consumers eager to buy products tailored to their needs. Consumer spending in Africa may double, to as much as $1.8 trillion, by 2020, an increase that can hardly be ignored by these first world economies.
Kenya is an economic heavyweight in Africa. South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are listed as Africa’s best investment destinations for 2011, according to the Dutch-based organisation Africa Business Panel.
The three countries came out tops in a survey among 800 professionals currently involved in the continent. The top ten countries are, in order of preference: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda, Botswana, Uganda and Mozambique.
Germany and Kenya signed two bilateral agreements that seek to establish a delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nairobi and to support research activities of the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute.
The agreements are critical in promoting trade and economic relations between the two countries. a
