Philipp Knill is the Director of the Africa II Directorate (Central, East and Southern Africa, African Union, coordination of operations in Africa) at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany. Previously, he headed the divisions for South Asia and for climate policy at the BMZ. Since 2000, he has been serving in the German government in the field of development policy in various roles – as a senior policy officer on topics such as environment and climate change, cooperation with West Africa, and development effectiveness, at the German Embassy in Bolivia, and as German Council Member at the Global Environment Facility (GEF). He holds a master’s degree and a German diploma in economics and took part in the postgraduate program of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).