International high-level dialogue forum

Shaping a globalised world

The image shows negotiating stakeholders who are grouped around the African continent
©sef: (generated with the help of AI)

Transforming Partnerships?
Africa and the future of international cooperation

23-24 November 2026
Brandenburg Museum for the Future, Present and Past
Potsdam, Germany

Conference languages: English/German

Programme  Registration (for the waitlist)

Background

‘Partnership’ is one of the most frequently used terms in German policy towards Africa and is becoming even more indispensable in times of global upheaval. With the new South-North Commission on Development (ENSK) and the reform process of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) partnership is also taking centre stage in the debate on how Germany intends to help shape international cooperation in a changing world. The Potsdam Africa Dialogues 2026 discuss these timely topics: What does partnership mean in a changing world order? How are the German political reforms understood by partners? And what do German actors in politics and the economic sector need to change so that cooperation with African partners is based on shared interests, reliability and mutual benefit?

Over the past fifteen years, the Potsdam Africa Dialogues have become a trusted forum for exchange on regional cooperation and sustainable development. The conference brings together stakeholders from politics, business, academia, and civil society to discuss pressing challenges and innovative solutions. Everyone interested is warmly invited to attend the event.

Panel guests (amongst many others):

This image shows Olaf Scholz
Olaf Scholz, MP is the former Chancellor and Co-Chair of the South-North Commission on Development (ENSK)
(©photothek.net/Thomas Köhler & Thomas Imo)
H.E. Winnie Natala Chibesakunda is
Ambassador of the Republic of Zambia to the Federal Republic of Germany (©Embassy of the Republic of Zambia to the Federal Republic of Germany)
This image shows Prof Dr Christof Hartmann
Prof Dr Christof Hartmann is Director of the
Institute for Development and Peace (INEF) at the University Duisburg-Essen (©Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa, MIASA)
The image shows Ottilia Anna Maunganidze
Ottilia Anna Maunganidze is Head of Special Projects and member of the Executive Committee at the Institute for Security Studies (©Ottilia Anna Maunganidze)
This image shows State Secretary Dr. Markus Niggemann
Dr Markus Niggemann is State Secretary of the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Climate Action and European Affairs (MWEKE), State of Brandenburg (©MWEKE)
The picture shows Chenayi Mutambasere
Chenayi Mutambasere is the Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Economic Justice and a development economics expert
(©Chenayi Mutambasere)
This image shows Henrik Maihack
Dr Henrik Maihack is Head of the Secretariat of the North-South Commission at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) (©Henrik Maihack)
Dr Philani Mthembu is Executive Director at the Institute for Global Dialogue, an independent foreign policy think tank based in South Africa (©Philani Mthembu)
This picture shows Matthias Rompel
Prof. Dr. Matthias Rompel is Director of the Division East Africa and Horn of Africa at the Headquarters of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (©Matthias Rompel)
This picture shows Monde Muyangwa
Dr Monde Muyangwa is a senior development professional and has formerly been working as Assistant Administrator for the USAID Africa Bureau (©Monde Muyangwa)
Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge is Director of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and Professor for Global Sustainable Development at the University of Bonn (©Bettina Engel-Albustin | Fotoagentur Ruhr moers)
This picture shows Wiebke Polomka
Wiebke Polomka is Senior Manager for Southern Africa at the German-African Business Association (©Wiebke Polomka)
This image shows Ndiarka Mbodji
Ndiarka Mbodji, a former Executive with Rolls-Royce Group, is Founder and CEO of Kowry Energy GmbH (©Robert Hack)
This image shows Hans-Dieter Allgaier
Hans-Dieter Allgaier, who was born in Tanzania, is the project manager of the German-Zanzibari vocational training partnership and a former Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Zanzibar (©Britta Spaeth-Andres)

Conference Themes

23 November 2026

Welcome messages

Oliver Krauß, MdL (Member of the Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia)
Chairperson, Development and Peace Foundation (sef:)

Dr Markus Niggemann
State Secretary of the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Climate Action
and European Affairs, State of Brandenburg

 

Keynote
North–South. South–North? Which way forward for international cooperation?

Olaf Scholz, MP
Former Chancellor and Co-Chair of the South-North Commission on Development (ENSK)

 

Panel
South-South perspectives on development policy in transition

Dr Philani Mthembu
Executive Director, Institute for Global Dialogue

Dr Anika Altaf
Executive Director, INCLUDE Knowledge Platform for Inclusive Development Policies

Chenayi Mutambasere
Executive Director, Africa Centre for Economic Justice

Dr Henrik Maihack
Head of Secretariat, South-North Commission on Development (ENSK)

 

Lightning Talks
Partnerships in transformation: Envisioning a future-oriented development cooperation

Ottilia Anna Maunganidze
Head of Special Projects, Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

Prof Dr Christof Hartmann
Institute for Development and Peace (INEF), University Duisburg-Essen

 

Panel
New partnerships, revised terms and conditions? What does partnership mean when resources are increasingly constrained?

Dr Monde Muyangwa
Former Assistant Administrator, USAID Africa Bureau

Prof Dr Matthias Rompel
Director East Africa and Horn of Africa, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Nadine Piefer-Söyler
Team leader Development Co-operation Directorate, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Prof Dr Anna-Katharina Hornidge
Director of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)

24 November 2026

Keynote
Political perspectives on partnerships under changing circumstances

H.E. Winnie Natala Chibesakunda
Ambassador of the Republic of Zambia to the Federal Republic of Germany

 

Panel
More than trade? What turns companies into partners.

Wiebke Polomka
Senior Manager Southern Africa, German-African Business Association

Ndiarka Mbodji
Founder & CEO Kowry Energy Services UG

Samuel Thou
Executive Director, Ziada Solutions

Hans-Dieter Allgaier
Vocational Training Partnership Project Zanzibar-Potsdam and Former Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Zanzibar

Joshua Kwesi Aikins
Head of the Economy and Society Programme, Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI)

 

Political Outlook

Johannes Funke, MdL (Member of the Landtag Brandenburg)
Chair of the Committee on European Affairs and Development Policy 

Ronald Meyer
Head of Division ‘Policy Issues of cooperation with Africa, African Union’, Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

Cooperating partners

The picture shows the logos of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Climate Protection and Europe, State of Brandenburg

The Potsdam Africa Dialogues are funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)and supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

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