Olaf Scholz departed for a state visit in Ghana and Nigeria.
For the third time in his term as German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz has embarked on a trip to Africa. Alongside Ghana, the focus of this state visit is Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country and its largest economy. The country relies heavily on oil exports but would also like to market its huge gas reserves. This would attract the interest of German companies, as Scholz said in an interview with the Nigerian newspaper The Punch. Joint initiatives to expand the hydrogen market would also be welcome, he added. The chancellor also sees potential for cooperation in various industries, such as mineral resources. There is still work to be done in this area; according to management consultants KPMG, mining makes only a negligible contribution to Nigeria’s gross domestic product. Yet large deposits of the battery metal lithium have been identified. In cooperation with Chinese companies, the first refineries are already being built for further on-site processing. In addition, there are rare earths that have not yet been economically tapped.
Germany currently does not play a prominent role as a trading partner for Nigeria. Here, the African country relies on China and India.
Photo: iStock/SeventyFour
