In 2005, building on their long-standing cooperation, DGIS and GTZ discussed to jointly promote capacity development on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) in Eastern and Southern Africa. That same year, DGIS thus co-funded GTZ's supra-regional programme "Implementing the Biodiversity Convention" (GTZ-BIODIV Programme) in order to organize a regional ABS capacity development workshop. This workshop, conceptualised as an initial multi-stakeholder workshop, was held in October 2005 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshop, which was attended by 50 participants from 15 different countries took stock of bioprospecting in Africa and assessed ABS capacity development needs. The workshop's results were presented at the 4th meeting of the CBD Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on ABS. Based on the substantive workshop results, the encouraging feedback of the participants and the overwhelming interest of stakeholders from all over Africa, DGIS and GTZ agreed to continue their cooperation until 2008 under the framework of the Dutch-German ABS Capacity-Building Initiative for Africa. The Initiative  was launched at CBD COP-8 in March 2006 in Curitiba, Brazil. Since 2006, two strategic Africa-wide multi-stakeholder workshops, more than 20 thematically specific or regionally focused ABS workshops and trainings as well as technical briefing sessions for African delegates prior to the ABS Working Groups and COP-9 have been conducted. Taking into account different levels of ABS implementation, language barriers and diverse legal systems, the Initiative has so far established three sub-regional platforms:

1. East- and Southern Africa,
2. Central Africa, and
3. West-Africa, Maghreb and the Indian Ocean Islands.

From the very beginning, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) became a permanent co-operation partner to the Initiative providing substantive inputs on the ongoing negotiation process and logistical support for the delegates' briefings. In order to further the integration of Francophone African countries into the Initiative's activities, specific support was provided by the Government of Quebec, and the Institut de l'énergie et de l'environnement de la Francophonie (IEPF). In 2008, IEPF joined the Initiative as a permanent partner and consequently the Initiative was renamed into the ABS Capacity Development Initiative for Africa.

These co-operations are seen as a first step developing the Dutch-German partnership into a future multi-donor initiative for a concerted ABS capacity development within Africa as an entire global region. Thus following the spirit and the requirements of the Paris Declaration, the Initiative with its joint Steering Committee will contribute to an improved donor harmonization and aid effectiveness - better valorising the potential for poverty alleviation at the interface of natural resources management, trade and governance.

It has become obvious that considerable individual knowledge and capacity on ABS and related issues exist in many African countries. However, there are significant gaps and hindrances for the application or use of these individual capacities, which are mostly caused by inadequate governance structures and policies at the local, national, supra-regional and international level. It is thus necessary to promote approaches that are at the same time comprehensive, participatory and flexible when strengthening institutions, adequately adapting policies and developing relevant long-term and flexible measures. This "systemic" approach to capacity development is the Initiative's characterizing feature and particularly valuable in light of the complexity and open-ended character of the ABS negotiation process. The initiative has among other things contributed to the increased preparedness of African delegates in the ongoing negotiation of an international regime on ABS.

At COP-9 in Bonn in May 2008, the African Group officially expressed its gratitude to the Initiative's assistance to the region, underlining the necessity for continuous support for ABS capacity development in Africa. Taking into account this request it is intended to prolong the Initiative until 2011 with increased assistance from additional donors and partners.

The Initiative is embedded in the ongoing activities of the GTZ's BIODIV Programme
( GTZ-Biodiv), implemented by GTZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).