The German Africa Award 2010 was awarded to Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas from Ghana, who was honoured for his outstanding services to peace, stability and regional integration as Secretary General of the West African community of states ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States).

Under the leadership of Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the regional organisation, which was considered inefficient at that time, underwent fundamental change: Among the greatest achievements under Chambas’s leadership are the concrete improvement in the living conditions of many people, the growing internal trade between the ECOWAS states and an increasingly important position in the global economic system.

Nevertheless, he successfully completed his political science studies at the University of Ghana in 1973 and received a scholarship from the Ghanaian government in 1977, enabling him to earn his doctorate at Cornell University in New York. After his studies, he initially worked as a lawyer in the USA, but returned to Ghana in 1968 to work as a politician. Here he held the office of Ghana’s Deputy Foreign Minister and Deputy Minister of Education, among other things, and was a Member of Parliament for Bimbilla.

Following his successes in the transformation of the West African Economic Community, he has been dedicated to his post as Secretary General of the ACP Group of States since 2010.

The award was presented by Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Guido Westerwelle.