Bayreuth professor as guest on the Federal Chancellor’s trip to Nigeria und Ghana

For Prof Dr Thoko Kaime, the trip with Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the end of October was a very special experience. "I was honoured by the invitation and delighted to be able to accompany the Chancellor on the trip," he says. Various topics were discussed. These included general political topics such as the climate crisis. However, it was mainly about his expertise in an international context. "We also discussed my decision to move to Germany and work here at the University of Bayreuth." The legacy and future of the Tanzanian-German Centre for Eastern African Legal Studies (TGCL) of which he is the Project Leader and other projects with the Continent as well as his involvement in the Institute of African Studies (IAS) and the Cluster of Excellence Africa Multiple were also discussed during the trip. 

Further discussions took place on how joint cooperations between Germany and African countries can and must take place on an equal footing, both at a political and institutional level. Thoko Kaime presented the exemplary work of the University of Bayreuth. "It was important for me to emphasize the need to listen carefully as German institution" says Kaime. "And what is also important to me is that Western countries and institutions take deep and honest learning from what is said as well as reflecting upon this seriously .”

The Federal “hancellor's trip to Nigeria and Ghana lasted three days. A total of around 40 people were part of the delegation, including three external guests, including Thoko Kaime. The University in Lagos was one of the stops visited, where the University of Lagos and the Cluster of Excellence Africa Multiple, University of Bayreuth decided together to set up an African Cluster Centre (ACC). At this location, the discussion centred on the aspirations and reality of Nigerian-German cooperation in the fields of higher education and culture.