Stories on economy and employment

How a blind lawyer from Ethiopia ended up at GIZ in Bonn and why he feels very much at home there.

Antje von Dewitz is Managing Director of the successful German outdoor brand VAUDE. In this interview with akzente, the entrepreneur talks about the corporate identity of the family business, cooperation with GIZ, and the Green Button and Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (PST) initiatives.

Sara Nuru rose to fame as a winner of Germany’s Next Top Model. She is now a successful entrepreneur, supporting women in Ethiopia. In 2018, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) appointed Sara Nuru as an ambassador for fair trade. In this interview for akzente, she reports on how her own association, nuruWomen, is supporting economic independence for women.

Albania will take centre stage as the official host country at the ITB 2025 travel trade show in Berlin. Located in the Western Balkans, Albania has so much to offer visitors. GIZ is supporting a number of local partners to ensure that the upsurge in tourism also benefits rural areas. A visit to the cultural and architectural heart of northern Albania.

Kosovo’s Government is focusing on innovation and digitalisation in government and the economy. In the interview, Lulëzon Jagxhiu, advisor to Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti, discusses the role played by the Innovation and Training Park in Prizren. The transformation of the former Bundeswehr military camp into a civilian economic and educational centre is a German-Kosovar initiative.

How a barracks in Kosovo became an attractive centre for business and training: we visit the Innovation and Training Park (ITP) Prizren. With GIZ support, it has become one of the most important hubs for innovation in the Western Balkans.

I’m Sarah Schmidt and I work as an advisor for the GIZ Fund for International Agricultural Research (FIA). What’s our goal?

Drei Fragen an Ana Maria Villegas, Start-up-Unternehmerin in Kolumbien. Die Designerin hat ein Mehrwegkonzept für die Gastronomie entwickelt.

The COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan ended with relatively little to show in the way of progress. In an interview with akzente, Jörg Linke, Head of GIZ’s Competence Centre for Climate Change, explains why hopes are now turning to COP30 next year in Belém.

Bernd Schramm explains why ensuring equal participation for people with and without disabilities is important in international cooperation and how much progress has been made.

To bring about a Just Energy Transition (JET), you have to take everyone with you and get them actively involved. On behalf of the German Government, GIZ supports a number of South African partner organisations as they embark on this journey. We interviewed a wide range of people about the changes they see happening in the Cape.

GIZ Managing Director Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven on this autumn’s political pushes for sustainability