Updated on 07/13/2022 at 11:52 am
According to Facebook, Olaf Scholz and Ursula von der Leyen are said to be donating 300 billion euros for gas pipelines in Africa. That’s not true. Investments are planned, but not just for Africa or for gas pipelines.
on Facebook circulates an image with a misleading claim. “G7 Summit: Scholz and von der Leyen donate 300 billion euros to Africa. Our own citizens have to starve and freeze so that we can build gas pipelines for the Africans!” says the photo, which has been circulating dozens of times on the social network. The post is apparently intended to create sentiment against the German government and the EU in the current gas crisis.
But the claim is not true. It is correct: There is an investment program for this sum EU Commissionits president Ursula von der Leyen is. However, the 300 billion agreed therein are to be invested by the EU member states as a whole and only about half of this is intended for Africa. The expansion of gas pipelines is not the focus.
What the Global Gateway investment program is all about
On the picture you can see the representatives of the G7 countries, who met from June 26th to 28th, 2022 at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria. If you search for G7 and 300 billion, you will find the alleged origin of the claim. The G7 pledged to invest 600 billion in global infrastructure, it says in media reports. The EU Commission President von der Leyen is quoted as saying “Team Europe”. Allocate 300 billion to the program.
When asked, a spokeswoman for the EU Commission told us that the 300 billion euros was the total sum of the “Global Gateway” program. The money wants them EU invest in the infrastructure of emerging and developing countries, so the program competes with the so-called “China’s “New Silk Road”.as the Manager Magazine wrote in December 2021.
“Global Gateway”. according to the EU Commission global investments in five key areas: digital, climate and energy, transport, health, and education and research. Between 2021 and 2027, the EU Commission, the 27 member states, European financial institutions and the private sector are to participate.
Some of the money has already been invested, the spokeswoman for the EU Commission wrote to us. For example, in a project for the production and access to vaccines, Pharmaceuticals and health technology in Africa, for which more than one billion euros had been collected. A similar initiative with Latin America and the Caribbean has already been launched.
Another project supported by the “Global Gateway” is the submarine cable Bella between Europe and Latin America, the spokeswoman wrote to us. The EU contributed 25 million euros to this. In addition to countries on the African continent and Latin America, the partner countries in the investment package included Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
150 billion euros are to flow to Africa, but gas pipelines are not the focus
What is certain is that half of the funds from “Global Gateway” flow into the African continent target. The aim is “Africa to support a strong, inclusive, green and digital recovery and transformation”, says the project on the website of the European Commission. The Commission lists the production of clean hydrogen, the entrepreneurial independence of women in Africa and transnational Exchange of young people within the continent and between Africa and Europe.
The construction of gas pipelines, on the other hand, has not yet been a focus of the package. The European Commission’s website links a total of eleven multi-page PDF documents with details and details on individual areas of investment for Africa – gas pipelines are not mentioned in any of them. We have those too federal government asked whether the promotion of gas pipelines was planned in the project. “Some African partner countries, such as Senegal, have asked for international support to explore their gas reserves; the review is ongoing,” a spokesman wrote to us. “There are no concrete plans yet.”
To media reports Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi spoke out at the G7 summit in favor of “the western countries investing in Africa, for example, in the gas infrastructure, but also in the expansion of renewable energies”. Accordingly, he said it was important that the gas infrastructure could then also be used for hydrogen. But he does not name a price for it.
Gas pipelines can also transport hydrogen, but this is mixed with the climate-damaging gas methane, as CORRECTIV reported in early May 2021. Experts fear that promoting hydrogen could also promote the expansion of the gas network.
How much money Germany is spending on “Global Gateway” is not certain
According to the federal government, it is not yet clear how high Germany’s share in the investment program will be, as the 300 billion euros relate to both public and private support. The “Global Gateway” initiative brings together different actors and different financing instruments, a spokesman for the federal government wrote to us by e-mail. There is also no information yet on which countries will specifically benefit and to what extent.
CORRECTIV is a non-profit, independent and award-winning research center. The investigative journalists conduct long-term research into grievances in society, such as the CumEx tax robbery or illegal party financing.
A dedicated fact check editorial team – CORRECTIV.Faktencheck – checks misleading claims and rumors on social media. The fact checkers explain how false reports influence our perception and how you can protect yourself from targeted false reports.
Updated on 07/11/2022 07:43
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