How can a country successfully transform itself from a mining-driven economy to a knowledge economy successfully? This question, among others were discussed by the Institute Director Prof. Dr. Thorsten Posselt and Ambassador Masire-Mwamba of the Republic of Botswana during their visit to Fraunhofer IMW on September 25, 2020. Dr. Luise Fischer, research assistant in the Innovation Policy and Transfer Design Unit and Urban Kaiser, head of the Innovation Acceptance Unit, also took part in the meeting. “In addition to the core interests of the country - education, energy and business - we discussed the topic of ‘New Perspectives in Africa,’ which is part of the Federal Government's Round Table on international cooperation in education, science and research. The Fraunhofer IMW represents the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in the committee of the expert group focusing on ‘Governance,’” reports Dr. Luise Fischer. The human geographer and economist researches and advises within this group, focusing primarily on innovation, economic and financial issues. With the exchange in the round table, the Federal Government is promoting research collaborations on the mobility of researchers or global scientific issues.

“The Fraunhofer IMW is already involved in various projects in North Africa and is interested in strengthening its relationships with other African countries,” adds Institute Director Prof. Dr. Thorsten Posselt. In recent years, scientists at Fraunhofer IMW have developed curricula for a master’s degree in innovation management in Tunisia, and have also supported the establishment of a graduate school with a focus on digitization and corporate management in Algeria. In another research project in collaboration with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), a study was carried out on regional structural change in disadvantaged rural regions in Morocco. "The Republic of Botswana is an exciting partner for us and we would be delighted to work with you— in research cooperation with local institutes as well as in questions of knowledge economy,” said Prof. Thorsten Posselt in summary of the meeting.