Dear reader, With the end of 2020, new partnerships found their beginning. One highlight is the high-level EU Launch of the BMZ D4D Flagship Initiatives with participation of Chancellor Merkel, EU Commission President von der Leyen and other high-level representatives. Initiated under the German EU Council Presidency, these initiatives are a prime example of a joint Team Europe approach (see December Edition). In addition, BMZ newly established a partnership with the World Bank within the framework of the “Digital Economy for Africa” (DE4A) initiative. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the corona pandemic has further exposed gaps in policy areas central to improving digital readiness in developing countries, such as weak e-commerce regulatory frameworks and bottlenecks in financing digital entrepreneurs and start-ups. BMZ and the World Bank now jointly promote capacity building and developing skills for effective agile regulation to enable a thriving digital economy in Africa. We are ready and eager to build on these new partnerships and take off in 2021 with concrete actions. Let us commence the year with new energy to make use of digital and accessible tools for sustainable development worldwide. I wish you an interesting read, Michael Krake Director “Private sector; trade, employment; digital technologies” at Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
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