AfDB partners UNDP, others to develop green minerals strategy, AfCFTA policy in Africa
By Fatima Saka
The African Development Bank said it is collaborating with African Legal Support Facility (ALSF), African Unions, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and others in developing green mineral strategies and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) dialogue policy for growing economic in Africa.
The Acting Director of the Africa natural resource management and investment center AfDB, Dr. Vanessa Ushie revealed this on Monday.
With the theme: “Leveraging Africa’s green minerals for the energy transition: The role of regional integration and the AfCFTA”.
In her opening remarks the Acting Director revealed that the essence of webinar dialogue is to build therefore, create awareness, consensus and momentum towards the development of an African green mineral strategy, with the core of the global economic recovery, in line with the commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement is the clean energy transition.
According to her, this will involve the use of technologies that reduce emissions, such as wind and solar energy and reduce uses.
“Africa’s energy transition provides transformational socio economic growth opportunities. The continent is richly endowed with a lot of mineral resources, which are essential in growing the economy.
“With current development makes the transition to low carbon development imperative to grow first and clean up later principle is no longer tenable given Africa’s competitive advantage due to rich endowments in renewable energy and mean mineral resources many African countries have a unique opportunity to benefit from low carbon development and adjust energy transition pathway, which is appropriate in a national context.
” The studies conducted by the African Development Bank and its partners including the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Africa Legal Support Facility, Africa Finance Corporation Afreximbank and Aeroplan for economic development in Africa, these studies however is to reaffirmed the importance of green minerals in the global energy transition and the opportunities for Africa’s participation in new global value chains.
“Africa needs to promote policies that allow value creation through resource based industrialization, but also to build productive capacities and develop intra African exports and trade by leveraging on the African continental Free Trade Area afcfta,” she said.
Going further, the Acting Director, revealed that, the integration into global value chains will not only contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, but the share of wealth retained locally will also enhance the competitiveness of local Small and medium-sized enterprises and create decent jobs.
