BERLIN, Germany, January 30/APO Group: The “Invest.EastAfrica! – Business and Investment Forum” has concluded at the GIZ Representation in Berlin, where it saw the launch of five new business partnerships by leading European companies such as Bayer, Melitta and ofi, along with their East African partners.
The partnerships are designed to accelerate sustainable trade, stronger value chains, and inclusive growth — from digital business models and artificial intelligence to coffee and cashew processing, entrepreneurship, and venture building.
Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Bärbel Kofler, underlined, “The five partnerships between German and East African private sector actors and the BMZ presented have sent a clear message: Germany and the EAC are driving a form of private sector cooperation that delivers economic growth while creating tangible benefits for people. The BMZ will continue its close collaboration with the East African Community to strengthen regional integration and improve reliable investment framework conditions.”
Over the course of the forum, more than 350 representatives of German companies met a delegation of 60 East African businesses across a three-day programme in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin. The participants explored concrete cooperation opportunities in joint investment priority areas, such as agri-business, pharmaceuticals, AI, carbon credits as well as tourism.
East Africa is fast consolidating its position as Africa’s economic powerhouse, with inter-regional trade expanding by more than 12 percent. At the same time, the East African Community is reviving their efforts to finalise the EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement—a timely step, given that the EU currently ranks only as the region’s fourth-largest trading partner. Against this backdrop, the forum—hosted in the State of Hesse, one of Germany’s economic powerhouses—aimed to deepen German-East African economic ties and diversify both regions’ trade and investment portfolios in an era of mounting geopolitical challenges.
“At a time when the world is once again turning to isolation, we are sending a clear signal for open trade and the diversification of our economic relations. East Africa, with its more than 320 million inhabitants, is an important future market for Hessian companies—dynamic, innovation-strong and strategically relevant,” says Hessian State Minister for International Affairs Manfred Pentz.
In the same spirit—moving from political intent to practical delivery—, the CEO of the German-African Business Association Afrika-Verein, Christoph Kannengießer, emphasizes: “Invest.EastAfrica! shows how purposeful dialogue can translate into concrete cooperation. Over three days, companies moved from initial interest to structured project pipelines—agreeing on next steps and timelines on a foundation of trust. Diversifying markets is a shared strategic objective, and this forum helps turn it into practical, investable collaboration.”
Building on the momentum of the first edition, the event partners — including Afrika-Verein, the State of Hesse, German Development Cooperation (GIZ), IHK Frankfurt & Friedberg and Berlin, BVWM, as well as the East African Community and the East African Business Council (EABC) — will support the development of ten additional business cooperations to be launched at next year’s forum.
These projects are expected to target an estimated 500 million EUR in investment volume that involve German companies such as Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, ODDO Bank, Lufthansa, Fresenius, alongside their East African partners such as Cassava, Bedi Investment, Hormuud and Equatorial Nuts.
“As the business community of East Africa, we are welcoming the rich results of the business forum and are ready to implement these agreed cooperation projects and more to boost economic ties with Germany,” concluded the Vice-President of the East African Business Council, Jaswinder Bedi.
