(de-news.net) – In response to increasingly stringent fiscal constraints, the Federal Government is preparing a strategic realignment of its development policy framework. According to Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan, future financial commitments will be directed more systematically toward the world’s poorest countries, with particular emphasis placed on regions such as Africa and the Middle East, where development needs are considered most acute. By contrast, cooperation with emerging and middle-income economies, including Mexico, South Africa, and India, is expected to rely to a greater extent on repayable loans rather than grant-based assistance. Within this context, the minister emphasized that development spending will be more explicitly aligned with German strategic interests, while consolidation requirements for her ministry necessitate a stronger and more consistent focus on the measurable effectiveness and efficiency of individual projects. For the current fiscal year, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is operating with a budget of approximately 10 billion euros, representing a reduction of roughly 2 billion euros compared with 2023.
Alabali Radovan has argued that the proposed reform package is intended to mitigate the consequences of the anticipated budget cuts while ensuring that Germany remains a reliable and credible partner in international development cooperation despite mounting financial pressures. Although the precise scale of the reductions has not yet been finalized, she noted that the expenditure targets set by the finance ministry clearly point to additional savings for the BMZ, a prospect she characterized as difficult but unavoidable. Against this backdrop, she maintained that the central objective of the reform process is to deploy increasingly scarce resources in the most efficient manner possible, prioritizing policy areas and instruments where the potential for tangible and lasting impact is greatest.
The broader reorganization is designed to render German development policy more strategic in orientation, more sharply focused in its objectives, and more collaborative in its implementation. A key element of this approach involves clearer differentiation between various forms of cooperation, particularly through the expanded and more systematic use of credit-based instruments in dealings with emerging economies. At the regional level, future efforts aimed at fostering peace and stability are expected to concentrate on the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, the Middle East and North Africa, and Europe’s immediate neighborhood. To further support and institutionalize this more targeted and coherent strategy, the establishment of a North–South commission on development policy is also planned.
