Germany is suffering from a shortage of skilled labour due to demographic change. It would need around 500,000 new skilled workers every year to maintain the German social system. The immigration of new skilled labour is therefore being called for by politicians and businesses and the focus is increasingly turning to Africa. However, migration from Africa has generally only played a negligible role to date – less than 5% of all migrants to Germany come from the African continent. What role do African migrants therefore play in the migration of skilled labour to Germany?

This year’s third reception in honour of the African Diplomatic Corps, hosted by the German Africa Foundation (DAS) together with the Sub-Saharan Africa Initiative of German Business (SAFRI) on 23 April 2024, addressed this topic. After a welcome address by Dr Ilja Nothnagel, Member of the DIHK Executive Board, and Dr Uschi Eid, President of the German Africa Foundation, H.E. Igor César, Ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda, Christoph Retzlaff, Commissioner for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel at the Federal Foreign Office, Dr Christoph Hoffmann MdB, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development, Edith Otiende-Lawani, co-founder and Chairwoman of Giving Africa a New Face and Claudia Voß, Managing Director of the German-African Business Association, discussed the different demographic situations and how a win-win situation could be created for both sides.

The summary of the event is attached as a PDF for download.