Prof. Dr. Matthias Rompel

Matthias Rompel is Honorary Professor at Justus Liebig University. At the same time, he is Head of the Southern Africa Division of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the German government’s international cooperation agency. He is therefore responsible for GIZ's work in Southern Africa.

Previously he lived and worked in various African countries as Country Director of GIZ, including in Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Malawi. He has extensive practical experience in policy advice in developing countries and emerging economies, and has advised various German federal ministries on their internationalization strategies.

He works at the intersection of sociology with the interdisciplinary perspective of development studies and the practical implementation of international cooperation for sustainable development.

At the Institute of Sociology, he researches and teaches on the following topics:

• Development studies, development sociology, development economics
• Cultural and social comparison of non-European societies
• Theories, concepts, and challenges of international cooperation
• Country and regional studies, especially on the regions of Southern Africa, East Africa, and the Horn of Africa

Current research project: NISANSA - Nisansa

Matthias Rompel is a member of the board of Pallium – Research and Aid for Social Projects