Germany recognises colonial-era killings in Namibia as genocide

German foreign minister Heiko Maas (AP)

Germany has reached an agreement with Namibia that will see it officially recognise the colonial-era killings of tens of thousands of people as genocide and commit to spending a total of 1.1 billion euro (£918 million) on development projects.

The accord announced on Friday is the result of more than five years of talks with Namibia on the events of 1904-1908, when Germany was the southern African country’s colonial ruler.