Hello from Kinshasa,
My name is Olaf Handloegten. Since 2023, I’ve been coordinating GIZ projects as Country Director in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Our regional office is also responsible for regional and global projects in the neighbouring Republic of the Congo.
The situation here is currently tense. In the east of the country, armed conflicts occur frequently. This makes our work more challenging, but also all the more important. This is not my first post in a country affected by conflict. In situations like these, I try to focus on the positives.
Here in the DRC, I tracked down the last surviving members of the former international squad, who in Germany in 1974 became the first team from sub-Saharan Africa to participate in a Football World Cup. In the Congo, they had faded into obscurity. Together we were able to shine a spotlight on their story again. Memories like these are of huge importance to a country in crisis. They can promote reconciliation and give the country hope.
I’ve been an avid football fan since childhood. I watched the 1974 FIFA World Cup on TV as a 10-year-old, including matches played by the team from Zaire, as the Democratic Republic of the Congo was then known. It was amazing to meet these men in person 50 years later.
Twice in my career I’ve worked on projects in which sport played a central role. The first was in South Africa from 2009 to 2010, where I worked on the Youth Development Through Football project – South Africa was the first country on the African continent to host the FIFA World Cup. Later, working from Bonn, I headed up the global project Sport for Development.
Sport can give young people important skills for life. Whether it’s football, basketball or cricket – sport teaches teamwork, fairness and discipline. We also have a deliberate focus on promoting women’s teams, because sport builds self-confidence and turns girls into role models for their peers. And, of course, sport can build bridges where there is tension or conflict. It unites people.
Football has always been a great way for me to meet others. Wherever I’ve worked for GIZ, I would go to watch games – and I even played myself when I was younger. You can strike up a conversation with people anywhere on the topic of football. In the 25 years or more that I’ve been working for GIZ, football has also provided an important link between us and our partners – because they associate the world’s favourite game with Germany in the same way they do dual vocational training and local self-government.
Best regards,
Olaf Handloegten