Our Mandate

The German Africa Foundation (DAS) is a non-partisan foundation committed to the successful implementation of the Africa policy guidelines of the German Federal Government. As a facilitator, we offer a platform for partnership-based exchange between German and African actors and thus strengthen cooperation with the states and institutions of our neighbouring continent. Hereby, we particularly focus on the work in the parliamentary sphere. In the context of expert talks, parliamentary breakfasts and panel discussions, we bring together members of the German Bundestag, specialist ministries and other political decision-makers from Germany and Africa. At the same time, we advocate greater involvement of representatives of African embassies and the African diaspora in German politics.

One of our core tasks is to convey a differentiated image of Africa in the political arena and to the German public. Since 1993, we have been awarding the German Africa Award every year, honouring outstanding personalities from the neighbouring continent who have rendered outstanding services to democracy, peace, human rights, accountability, art and culture, social market economy and social issues. In this way, we bring new developments in Africa to the attention of the German public and promote a differentiated perception of our neighbouring continent.

In our weekly press review we provide an overview of current political developments in Africa and offer a collection of online reports on Africa by German-speaking as well as selected English and French-speaking media. With our Africa Info Hub we furthermore offer an overview of Africa-relevant institutions, country-specific information as well as selected professional articles and are thus the first contact point for people interested in Africa.

Our History

The German Africa Foundation has been committed to promoting German-African relations for 45 years. On 10 May 1978, the Foundation was founded as a member association by a number of politicians of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU). In the same year, the Foundation was included in the institutional support of the Federal Foreign Office. From the very beginning, the DAS worked closely with the political foundations and advised the German Federal Government on African policy issues.

Under the chairmanship of Karl-Heinz Hornhues (CDU), Member of the German Bundestag, the Foundation underwent a reorientation and increasingly positioned itself non-partisan: in 1991, members of other parliamentary groups joined the Foundation for the first time and members of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) were elected to the board. A second wave of expansion followed in 1994, in which Dr Uschi Eid, the current president of the DAS, also became a board member. Under her leadership, the DAS was transformed into the cross-party foundation that exists today in Parliament. This is also reflected in the current composition of the board, which includes the foreign and development policy spokespersons from the CDU/CSU, SPD, BĂĽndnis 90/Die GrĂĽnen, FDP and DIE LINKE as well as non-parliamentarians interested in Africa.

Our Board

Dr Uschi Eid

President

Dr Uschi Eid was a member of the German Bundestag for 20 years, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) (1998 – 2005) and Personal Representative for Africa of Chancellor Schröder. She worked in Eritrea for three years and has been President of the DAS since 2015.

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Prof Dr Karl-Heinz Hornhues

Honorary President

For many years, Prof Dr Karl-Heinz Hornhues chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag and served as president of the German Africa Foundation. In 2008, he and his wife founded the Ellen und Karl-Heinz Hornhues Stiftung ProAfrika.

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Alois Karl

Vice-President

Alois Karl was a member of Parliament from 2005 to 2021. Here, he was, amongst other post, member of the Budget Committee and the Committee for Human Rights. Before joing the German Bundestag, he was the Mayor of Neumarkt i.d.OPf. As a mountaineer, he climbed the Kilimanjaro.

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Christoph Matschie

Vice-President

Christoph Matschie has been a visiting researcher at the Centre for International Peace Operations (ZIF) since 2021, focusing on the Horn of Africa and cooperation with the German Bundestag. Previously, he was head of the Africa discussion group of the SPD parliamentary group and deputy foreign policy spokesperson. He was a member of the German Bundestag from 1990 to 2004 and from 2017 to 2021.

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Dieter Härthe

Treasurer

Dieter Härthe is Chairman of the Senate of Economy International and Honorary Chairman of the Senate of Economy Germany. For more than 20 years he has been Consul General of the Republic of Senegal for the federal states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. He is co-author of the BMZ study “Marshall Plan with Africa” and advocates investments in Africa by German companies.

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Klaus A. Hess

Legal Adviser

As President of the German-Namibian Society, the publisher and journalist Klaus A. Hess promotes relations between Germany and Namibia, a country he has known for decades. His publishing house publishes the Namibiamagazin.

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Dr. Karamba Diaby, MP

Assessor

Dr Karamba Diaby is a member of executive board of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Furthermore, he is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development and the Subcommittee on Global Health.

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Dr Volker Faigle

Assessor

Dr Volker Faigle worked as a Protestant pastor in Kenya for six years and was Africa advisor of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) for 13 years. Today he is the Sudan and South Sudan representative of the EKD and works as an ecumenical adviser for South Africa.

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Dr forest Christoph Hoffmann, MP

Assessor

Dr forest Christoph Hoffmann is a forestry scientist, Member of the German Bundestag of the FPD parliamentary group and acting Chairman of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development.

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Volkmar Klein, MP

Assessor

Volkmar Klein is the development policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. In his private capacity, he is involved in the implementation of projects in Ghana.

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Sabine Odhiambo

Assessor

Sabine Odhiambo lived in Nairobi for eight years and developed into a specialist for the East African region. In addition to various Kenyan NGOs, she also worked for the Goethe Institute as well as the German Embassy. Having already led the Foundation on an interim basis and served as Deputy Secretary General, she has been Secretary General of the German Africa Foundation since 2022.

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Stefan Rouenhoff

Assessor

Stefan Rouenhoff has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2017. He is a member of the Economic Committee as well as Head of the Africa Working Group of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. Before his election, he was Commercial Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Germany to the European Union for three years.

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Rebecca Schamber MP

Assessor

Rebecca Schamber has been a directly elected member of the Bundestag of the SPD parliamentary group since 2021.
As a member of the Defence Committee and the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development, she is concerned, among other things, with the issues of peacekeeping, conflict and crisis prevention, and a restrictive arms export policy.

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Heiko Schwiderowski

Assessor

Heiko Schwiderowski is head of the Africa department and the African expert of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerc (DIHK). The creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area is of particular concern to him. He stayed in Namibia for several years.

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Kordula Schulz-Asche, MP

Assessor

Kordula Schulz-Asche is Chair of the parliamentary friendship groupe East Africa, lived in various African countries for 13 years and worked for the Deutsche Gesellschaft fĂĽr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), among others.

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Dr Wolfgang Stefinger, MP

Assessor

Dr Wolfgang Stefinger is a group coordinator of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development, where he has been a member since 2017. He also serves as vice-chairman of the parliamentary friendship group Southern Africa and is a member of the parliamentary friendship group Eastern Africa.

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Jessica Tatti, MP

Assesor

Jessica Tatti was a member of the German Bundestag for the DIE LINKE parliamentary group from 2017 to 2023 and deputy chair of the West Africa parliamentary group. Since February 2024, she is a member of the BSW Group.

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Our Team

Sabine Odhiambo

Secretary General

For eight years Sabine Odhiambo lived in Nairobi and became a specialist for the East African region. In addition to working for various Kenyan NGOs, she has also held positions for the Goethe Institute and the German Embassy. Having already led the Foundation on an interim basis and served as Deputy Secretary General, she has been Secretary General of the German Africa Foundation since 2022.

E-mail: odhiambo@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de
Phone: +49 (0)30 28 09 47 29

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Silke Degen

Scientific Advisor

Silke Degen has several years of experience in development cooperation and humanitarian aid as well as in public affairs. At the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, she was responsible, among other things, for the Africa portfolio in the area of crisis management and reconstruction. Private travels have taken her to Morocco and Mauritius, among other places. She joined the DAS team at the beginning of 2022.

E-mail: degen@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de
Phone: +49 (0)30 28 87 43 30

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Svenja Schindelwig

Scientific Advisor

In her dissertation Svenja Schindelwig focused on the repression of the Algerian war as a topic within French society. She has been working for the DAS for eight years now and has established herself as an institutional memory over time.

E-mail: schindelwig@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de
Phone: +49 (0)30 28 09 11 66

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Larissa PflĂĽger

Scientific Advisor

Larissa PflĂĽger is our expert for Southern Africa – several stays abroad took her to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, among others. She worked for a year in Cape Town with an NGO in the field of HIV and is still active as a volunteer for the Botswana Centre for Public Integrity. She joined the DAS team in March 2020.

E-mail: pflueger@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de
Phone: +49 (0)30 28 09 47 28

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Agnès Bel

Administration & Foreign Languages

From communication and journalism to sales, sports and project management, Agnes Bel has a very diverse background. She speaks French, English, German and Brazilian Portuguese. She joined the DAS team in April 2023.

E-mail: bel@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de
Phone: +49 (0)30 28 09 47 27

 

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Njogou Tamba

Working Student

E-mail: tamba@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de
Phone: +49 (0)30 28 09 47 27

Finn Haberkost

Project Assistant

E-mail: team@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de
Phone: +49 (0)30 28 09 47 27

Katharina Lange

Project Assistant

E-mail: team@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de
Phone: +49 (0)30 28 09 47 27

Board of Trustees

Dr Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate

Chairman

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Prof Emeritus Robert Kappel

Member

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Egon Kochanke

Member

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Andreas Lämmel

Member

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Robert von Lucius

Member

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Dr Stefan Mair

Member

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Dr Michael Rabbow

Member

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Marina Schuster

Mitglied

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Dr. Johannes Singhammer

Member

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Dr. h.c. Peter Spary

Member

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Bruno Wenn

Member

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Tenders

Internships

We are looking for a full-time intern (m/f/d) to support our team from 17 June 2024 and 5 August 2024 for a period of 3 months each.

Tasks

  • Collaboration in the planning, preparation, implementation and documentation of events
  • Supporting the team in looking after African visitors (groups)
  • Maintenance of the website and social media
  • Preparing a weekly press review with commentary on news about Africa
  • Preparation and supervision of foundation-relevant committee meetings
  • Representation of DAS e.V. at conferences and information events
  • Participation in the organisation of the German Africa Award

 

Requirements

  • Advanced German language skills (minimum B2-Level)
  • The internship will be completed during the course of studies
  • Solid knowledge of the English language is desirable, knowledge of French is an advantage
  • The curriculum vitae should have a recognisable reference to Africa
  • Special interest in the political field of Africa and German Africa policy
  • Solid computer skills

 

Remuneration, duration and working hours

The internship lasts three months in full-time (39 hours/week) and is remunerated with 450 Euro per month.

Please send your detailed application to Larissa Pflueger (bewerbung@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de), stating the possible duration of the internship. I will also be happy to answer any questions you may have.

contact details

Larissa PflĂĽger

Scientific Advisor

bewerbung@deutsche-afrika-stiftung.de