18. December 2019 | 10:36 CET
SAP, Siemens, Volkswagen, EXMceuticals - who has the best strategy for Africa?
The African continent is diverse and rich in people - more than just a beautiful travel destination. The population is estimated at around 1.3 billion people, which is comparable to China. The multitude of mineral resources and natural conditions offer an excellent starting position to strengthen the domestic economy and combat possible causes of flight. Various countries and companies have discovered Africa for themselves as a workbench, raw material region and sales market. However, sustainable stability and prosperity can usually only be achieved through education, and connection to that the different approaches of economy and politics can be of different importance for the local people.
time to read: 1 minutes by Mario Hose
Africa offers tremendous benefits
The Canadian Cannabis company EXMceuticals has discovered Africa as a growing region for itself. With the money of the investors and partners, plantations are established and the harvest is further processed for transport. "In being able to grow in some of the best natural conditions in the world along the equator, Africa offers enormous advantages for cannabis cultivation. Consequently, our scalability in our cultivation will be one that cannot be achieved in many other locations. It really is important to stress the advantages of growing in the tropics, where there is an abundance of sun, rain and fertile soil with an average of 12 hours of daylight. (...)", says Jonathan Summers, CEO of EXMceuticals.
Creating a framework for economic growth
Summers is aware of the importance of sustainable job creation in the growing areas of the public company: "(...) Whenever possible, we will continue to buy local and hire local. Hundreds of jobs are and will continue to be created locally at each stage of our operations. Furthermore, we will also add significantly to the skill-sets of the local labor force, collectively sustaining the environment for further economic growth."
DAX companies colaborate with politics
Germany's development budget for 2020 is almost EUR 11 billion, of which EUR 1.6 billion is to flow into six African reform partnership countries in a kind of "Marshall Plan with Africa". In connection with vocational training, Siemens is planning to invest EUR 20 million in Ethiopia and the Development Ministry is adding EUR 10 million. SAP and German Development Minister Gerd Müller are also planning to jointly promote digital programs in several African countries. The German carmaker Volkswagen is also active and would like to build an e-Golf in Rwanda.