Niamey, April 13, 2022.

During her tour in West Africa, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock paid a visit to the Abdou Moumouni University (UAM) in Niamey, Niger, today.

Photo by Nyarko Lawrence Fletcher

A 55-member delegation, including Niger’s State Secretary of Education, members of Niger’s and Germany’s parliaments, German and African journalists, as well as experts and industry representatives from Germany accompanied the minister, who attended a conference on climate change and security at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology (FAST) of the Abdou Moumouni University.

From left to right: head of protocol at the Ministry of Higher Education; Saidou Mamadou, Rector of UAM; Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s Foreign Minister; Mamoudou Djibo, Niger’s Minister of Higher Education; Ali Doumma Secretary General of UAM; and Christoph Roevekamp, BMBF, Germany. Photo by David Agbo

Professor Rabani Adamou, pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and International Affairs at Abdou Moumouni and Director of the West African Center for Sustainable Rural Transformation (WAC-SRT) in Niger has coordinated the visit with his team at FAST.

During her visit, different research and capacity building projects such as DAAD Centers of African Excellence (CEGLA, Pro-RUWA and WAC-SRT) and the BMBF-funded project West African Science Service Centre of Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) were introduced.

The Minister also met students of the Climate and Sustainable Development Action’s Club (CSDAC), an initiative of WAC-SRT students and alumni. Geraldo Favi, co-founder of CSDAC and WAC-SRT alumnus, presented CSDAC’s work and actions to the Minister and gave a speech on behalf of the Abdou Moumouni University’s students. In his speech to the minister and audience, Mr. Favi cited Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s late President, who once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world“.  He added that Germany has also understood the value of education and has been investing in Africa’s capacity, especially the youth from West Africa, for years now. As a result of this determined and continuous support from Germany, a lot of progress has been made in terms of knowledge transfer, enhancement of the lectures and students’ capacity, and contribution to scientific knowledge.

Geraldo Favi speaks on Behalf of UAM students. Photo by Nyarko Lawrence Fletcher
Armel Otekpo and Geraldo Favi (CSDAC co-founders) with Annalena Baerbock.

You can watch an interview with Geraldo Favi here.

Previous news about CSDAC here, here and here, and a blog post by CSDAC students Geraldo Favi and Otekpo Armel here.

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1 Comments

  1. Alhassane A. Najoum says:
    13 April 2022 at 8:31 pm

    Niger ist eines der Länder mit den geringsten Umweltverschmutzungen der Welt, aber paradoxerweise eines der Länder, die am stärksten vom Klimawandel betroffen sind.
    Der Besuch der deutschen Außenministerin ist zu begrüßen. Wir hoffen, dass dies die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Niger und Deutschland weiter verfestigen wird.

    Niger is one of the least polluting countries in the world but paradoxically it is one of the countries most impacted by climate change.
    The visit of the German Foreign Minister is of great importance. We hope, this visit will further solidify the Niger-Germany cooperation.

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