Former German President Horst Köhler died on 1 February at the age of 81. The economist wanted to be an uncomfortable head of state and often admonished the parties to stop their bickering - and this went down extremely well with the sovereign. Köhler came from a modest background, was a refugee and worked his way up to the top of international organisations such as the IMF. The immensely popular Federal President was able to listen, was approachable and wanted to understand his counterpart. Köhler was concerned with people and, even after his time in office, he was particularly dedicated to the people of Africa.
Between 2000 and 2004, during his term as the eighth director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Köhler travelled to Africa several times and advocated making the fight against poverty there a central task of the Fund. He emphasised that the West must learn to ‘listen’ and give African countries a greater say in shaping reforms - a demand he reiterated during a trip to Mali, one of the poorest countries in the world, in January 2001. It can be said that Africa opened Köhler's eyes; he had found his topic for life.
When the succession to Federal President Johannes Rau came up in 2004, CDU leader Angela Merkel and FDP leader Guido Westerwelle surprisingly presented IMF director Horst Köhler as the opposition candidate, a veritable coup, as Köhler, a farmer's son who had never held a party office, was virtually unknown to the wider German public - and was nevertheless confirmed as the ninth Federal President by the Federal Assembly on 23 May 2004.
Köhler interpreted his role in a completely different way to his predecessors, who, unlike him, were professional politicians. And he focused on completely new topics. Africa, for example, right from the start. In his inaugural speech, he addressed our neighbouring continent:
"For me, the humanity of our world is decided by the fate of Africa. Isn't it a question of Europe's self-respect to engage honestly and generously in Africa - with a view to our own foundations, our values and history?"
President Köhler did not stop at prose, however, but
visited several African countries during his term of office. In December 2004, he gave a speech to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in which he emphasised the importance of a fair partnership between Europe and Africa.
In 2006, he travelled to Namibia, where he met the outgoing President Pohamba and praised the country's democratic progress. In the same year, he visited Ghana and announced a debt relief of 270 million euros.
supported African causes with his commitment to an equal partnership.
initiated the "Partnership with Africa", which brought together heads of state, entrepreneurs, intellectuals and students from Africa and Europe for a dialogue on an equal footing. He criticised Europe's neglect of Africa as well as sensitive issues in African politics, including corruption, and gained widespread recognition in Africa as a result.
Köhler's aim was to change the perception of Africa. He recognised late colonial thinking in the West and, at an award ceremony for the Nigerian writer and Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka, who is considered perhaps Africa's best writer, he deplored clichés and reporting that portrayed Africa primarily as a continent of crises and disasters.
Africa occupied him beyond the office
On the day before his resignation at the end of May 2010, Köhler presented the book he had edited, ‘Schicksal Afrika’ (Africa's Destiny), which featured contributions from the aforementioned Wole Soyinka and South Africa's former president Thabo Mbeki and emphasised his call for a fair partnership with Africa, which in his view also requires an end to the injustices in European trade and agricultural policy.
Office or not, he remained true to his commitment and continued to put the topics of Africa, development and cooperation (on an equal footing) on the agenda, for example in a speech in 2013 at the German Africa Association on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the African Union. Köhler, now a private citizen, spoke in favour of seeing Africa as a great opportunity.
He subsequently made his expertise available to many organisations, including the United Nations, the African Development Bank and the German-African Business Association.
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