Germany acknowledges colonial genocide in Namibia and promises development projects

BERLIN — Germany’s government acknowledged Friday that it committed genocide during its colonial occupation of what is now Namibia and promised more than $1 billion in development projects in communities descended from victims.

The announcement from Germany’s Foreign Ministry comes after more than five years of negotiations between Berlin and Windhoek, the Namibian capital, where the news was received cautiously as a “first step in the right direction,” according to the president’s spokesman. Germany refused direct reparations that victims’ descendants had lobbied for and said development projects would be carried out over the next 30 years.