German Foreign Minister Pays Visit to African Union

On 22 January 2026, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul paid a visit to the African Union Commission (AUC) Chair Mahmoud Youssouf in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Currently, Germany is the top bilateral partner of the African Union (AU) in terms of support.

Germany is a long-standing partner of the African Union and both sides have cooperated in the fields of peacebuilding, good governance, migration management, health security, AfCFTA, and AFRIPOL. Actually, Chair Youssouf particularly welcomed Germany’s commitment of EUR 88 million for the 2026-2027 period to advance the African Single Market enabled by the #AfCFTA as well as other strategic AU programs.

“In a multipolar world, Africa is increasingly emerging as a centre of gravity. We therefore also want to further expand our cooperation with the African Union. We are united in our commitment to a rules-based international order and cooperation in which multilateral solutions are considered preferable to nations going it alone.”

Germany Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul

On the theme of AU’s ‘Silencing the Guns’, Germany reaffirmed its support, along with the EU, to the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM). Minister Wadephul also reaffirmed Germany’s support for Africa to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and reiterated Germany’s welcome to the AU as a permanent member of the G20.

It is worth Germany has been active in some African countries to promote the #EnergyTransition as part of the fight against #ClimateChange. In particular, Germany has some Green Hydrogen (#GH2) projects in Angola and Namibia. In the same vein, Germany stands ready to support the expansion of the Grand Inga Hydropower Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.