African investment conditions are better than they have been in many years, a top German government official said Tuesday on opening Africa Investment Day in Frankfurt, according to DPA. "Africa is a continent of opportunity. The potential Africa offers for investments from Germany and other members of the Group of Eight are bigger than they have been in decades," Bernd Pfaffenbach, a state secretary in the Economics Ministry said. His counterpart in the Development Ministry, Erich Stather, stressed the opportunities in southern Africa in particular. Africa was on the way up, he told business leaders. "Never have investment conditions in southern Africa been as good as they are today," Stather said. Confederation of German Industry President Juergen Thumann said economic developments on the continent were positive. But he also called on the German government to continue to support the reform process in Africa. Financial instruments were needed to fund smaller investments below 5 million euros (7.5 million dollars), Thumann said. He also said improvements in Africa's legal and administrative framework were required. The investment day was attended by more than 150 participants from the German and African private sector. At the conference, Germany's investment and development association (DEG) signed three contracts worth 23 million euros with Ghana's CAL bank, Zambia's Copperbelt Energy and South Africa's Kagiso Trust.
