The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) has decided to open an office in Ghana before the end of next year. Two other branches would be established also in Angola and an East African country which was yet to be decided. The move, which would increase the group's offices in Africa from three to six by 2011, was partly motivated by the increasing presence of China on the African continent in recent times. Currently, the association has 120 offices worldwide with those in Africa located in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Lagos. Mr. Heiko Schwiderowski, the organisation's International Economic Affairs Director for Africa, made this known when a group of African journalists currently on a fact-finding mission to Germany called on him in Berlin. The journalists, who were all alumni of the Berlin-based International Institute for Journalism (IIJ), were being sponsored by IIJ of Inwent, to tour some places in Germany before moving to Brussels and later returning to Germany to attend the Third German African Summit near Frankfurt Main. According to Mr. Schwiderowski, it was regrettable that the main impediments to investment in Africa about 40 years ago, which were energy, water and labour, remained the same today. The situation, he said was not a good sign as most nations usually did not feel secured investing in several countries on the continent. On China's economic inroads in Africa in recent times, he said it was not in the interest of Africa that China was importing its own labour from home instead of making use of the natives of the nations within which it was working. He however debunked the notion that Germans were worried about China's activities in Africa as they contributed to the continent's growth in the mean time. He was skeptical of the quality of Chinese work saying the durability and quality could only be assessed in 10 to 15 years time and not now. On the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between Europe and the 75 African Carribean Pacific (ACP) countries, whose deadline is December 31 this year, Mr. Schwiderowski said whether ACP nations liked it or not, the regulations governing the World Trade Organisation could not be changed regarding the EPA. It would, according to him, also be unfair to other nations if Africa was accorded special regulations or consideration under the pretext of not being competitive enough. In his view, the only way for Africa to develop rapidly was to increase its competitiveness in line with what was taking place globally. Meanwhile, opinions are sharply divided in Germany regarding the signing of the EPA. While some civil society organisations were saying the agreements were not being signed between partners of equal strength, others were of the view that it was the only way to arouse ACP nations from their long period of economic slumber, which only made them receive foreign aid all the time. "The time is now past when Europe and other African partners were always supplying goodies to Africa. Now the initiative must come from Africa, otherwise no support will come. "The Economic Partnership Agreements will therefore be the best protection for Africa. If they don't sign, they will have greater competitors in Brazil, Mexico, China and India. But if they sign, they will have access to the European markets," a professional EPA advocate said. Source: Daily Guide