The palace where we have gathered today has for some time been the official residence of Germany’s Federal President here in Berlin. Maybe when passing through the front gate you also saw a shiny black building with an ellipsis-shaped façade. That is where most of my staff work, where they plan and organise events and trips. These are colleagues with a great deal of experience, and they have met many highly committed people from around the world. But there is one date every year that they are especially thrilled by – and that is the reception for the fellows of the "Afrika kommt!" programme.

Your optimism, your drive, the verve with which you take the future into your own hands and work to make the world a better place – all this is exceptional and creates a sense of new beginnings, not only amongst my colleagues, but also in me. How lovely to see all of you here! I bid you all a very warm welcome!

This is the second time in only a few weeks that I am receiving committed individuals from Africa here at Schloss Bellevue. As some of you may have heard, we always have a partner country at our citizens’ festival, which we hold every year with around 15,000 guests from around Germany. And this year it was the Republic of Kenya, the first ever non-European partner country. Some of you come from Kenya. President Ruto, his wife and many other guests from Kenya were at the event, as were people from other African countries and Germans with African roots. It was a truly great celebration of German-African relations, and its motto could also be used for our reception here this morning: "Pamoja – Stronger Together!"

You all are the best example of how cooperation between European and African countries makes both sides stronger. As Federal President, I can say to you today that Germany intends to deepen its partnerships on the African continent, and it is also looking, wherever possible, to establish new ones. That is one reason why I travel to Africa so often. Most recently, I was in Tanzania and Zambia, and in December I plan to make yet another trip to your continent. Especially now, in these days marked by crises, wars and major changes, we need more exchange and more cooperation across borders and continents.

This applies in particular to the climate crisis, the effects of which are hitting your countries especially hard. Now and in the future, it is our joint task to work together to redesign our economies and societies so that our means of production and our lives can be carbon neutral. This is a big challenge. However, this great ecological transition will protect the natural resources on which our life depends, and it also offers a great opportunity to secure or create prosperity and good jobs for people in Europe and in Africa on a durable basis.

To seize this opportunity, we need excellent research, globally minded companies and above all exceptionally well trained experts and leaders in both Germany and your home countries. Young people who are bridge-builders and who have the courage to travel down new roads – young people like you, esteemed fellows.

What a superb cohort this is: more than 40 young women and men, from 16 African countries, from Tunisia to South Africa, from Burkina Faso to Ethiopia. Among you are outstanding software developers, engineers, financial analysts, experts in medical computing and public health, as well as representatives of so many other professions. Over the past months, you have held internships in German partner companies, in sectors that will shape the future such as electrical engineering, mobility and biotechnology. Working side by side, you and your German colleagues learned from each other and with each other, and together you developed new ideas.

I hope you will take something back with you as you now return to your home countries. Of course, this includes expert know-how and useful contacts that will help you bring change to your national economies and societies, so that as many people as possible have the opportunity for a good and self-determined life. But hopefully you will also take with you fond memories and many new friendships!

Also, if your experiences here were positive, please tell others when you are back home that German companies and institutions are great for getting new projects off the ground. Stay close friends, or in other words: become ambassadors for our country! But I also hope that those German colleagues of yours whom you have got to know over the past few months and whom you have turned into fans of your home countries will tell others here in Germany about the German-African experiences they have had. Because what we need now in our countries is even more globally minded people who have the courage to embark on exchanges across borders. We need even more inspiring encounters that prove to us that a more just and peaceful future is possible – but only if we shape it together.

I want to thank the many companies that have with great enthusiasm supported the "Afrika kommt!" programme, some of them for many years now. I thank GIZ, which has been organising and implementing this great project since 2008. And most importantly, I thank you, esteemed fellows. You all show us that Africa and German-African relations have potential, that they have a future, precisely because there are so many great people like you!

I look forward to spending this morning with you and to our conversations. And I also look forward to having photos taken with you. A warm welcome, and many thanks!