German Chancellor stresses need to improve living conditions in Africa

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Monday in Niger for the second leg of a three-day Africa tour, during which she has stressed the need for more security and better living conditions on the continent to slow migration to Europe. Merkel was received at Niamey airport with military honours. She was scheduled to hold talks with […]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Monday in Niger for the second leg of a three-day Africa tour, during which she has stressed the need for more security and better living conditions on the continent to slow migration to Europe.

Merkel was received at Niamey airport with military honours.

She was scheduled to hold talks with President Mahamadou Issoufou, to visit a school and a regional office of the International Organization for Migration, and to meet German soldiers who fly supplies to German peacekeepers in Mali.

"It is very important that African countries do not lose their best brains," Merkel said in the Malian capital Bamako on Sunday.

People could be educated abroad, "but one should then again contribute to the economic development of one’s country," the chancellor said.

Merkel pledged to increase cooperation to boost development in northern Mali, where Islamist militant groups operate and where more than 550 German soldiers are participating in a UN peacekeeping mission.

Germany, France and Italy want to develop close partnerships with Niger and Mali, regarded as key transit countries for migrants heading for Europe.

Germany recorded the arrival of 890,000 migrants in 2015, many of whom had fled conflict in Syria and Afghanistan and economic hardship across the African continent.

On Tuesday, Merkel was scheduled to visit Ethiopia, where the government on Saturday declared a state of emergency over violent anti-government protests in the Oromia region.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was meanwhile visiting Nigeria, where he said that the country had recorded its "first successes" in the fight against the militant Islamist group Boko Haram.

"I hope this fight will continue to be successful," he added.

Steinmeier also stressed the need to fight corruption in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria is "a powerhouse with huge opportunities, but also with dangers," said the minister, who met President Muhammadu Buhari during his visit. (DPA)