Better training and working conditions in Africa through innovative logistics solutions
In order to strengthen Africa's economic development by building sustainable jobs in the areas of mobility for economic goods and people, the Pan-African Mobility Alliance (PAMA) was founded in Berlin by Federal Development Minister Dr Gerd Müller together with companies and TU Berlin. The Chair of Logistics at TU Berlin conducts research on novel logistics solutions and supply chains for the development of African countries together with African partners, supports local education and training and organises exchanges of students, doctoral candidates and professors.
The launch of PAMA took place during the G20 Summit - Compact with Africa in Berlin in November 2019. The twelve Compact countries include North African states such as Morocco and Egypt, West African countries such as Guinea and Burkina Faso, but also East African Rwanda and Ethiopia.
Through this targeted methodical cooperation between politics, business and science, new supply chains, innovative logistical solutions and mobility offers are to be developed and implemented more quickly in the African compact countries. The aim is to support the industrial value creation of manufacturers and suppliers in the automotive, transport technology, food and clothing industries in Africa. It also aims to strengthen the performance level of logistics and improve living, training and working conditions on the continent through logistics. PAMA is an open platform for universities, companies and associations in Germany and Africa.
The head of the Logistics Chair, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Straube, and the research assistants Dr. Benjamin Nitsche and Julia Kleineidam have played a key role in shaping the concept and content of the foundation of the PAMA from the very beginning, together with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Society for International Cooperation) and interested companies and associations. The Logistics Chair is already active in various training and research projects in Ethiopia.
Prof. Dr. Angela Ittel, Vice-President for Strategic Development, Young Academics and Teacher Training at TU Berlin, accompanies these activities as part of TU Berlin's internationalisation strategy.