The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced the mobilisation of $6.5 billion in support for the Great Green Wall for a period of five years in order to check dissertification.
AfDB President, Akinwunmi Adesina announced this on Monday at the One Planet Summit, Great Green Wall Investment Summit in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
He said, “I am therefore pleased to announce that the African Development Bank will mobilize $6.5 billion in support of the Great Green Wall over the next five years.
“As we rebuild from the coronavirus and its impacts on our world, we must recalibrate growth, we must prioritise growth that protects the environment and biodiversity, and we must de-prioritise growth that compromises our global commons.
‘’The Great Green Wall is part of Africa’s environmental defence system, a shield against the onslaughts of desertification and degradation.”
Adesina added that the future of the Sahel region of Africa depends on the Great Green Wall.
AfDB earlier launched a $20 billion Desert-to-Power program to build the largest solar zone in the world in the Sahel.
Adesina said, ‘’This will provide electricity for 250 million people and help to protect the Great Green Wall.
‘’If there is no access to energy, the Great Green Wall will be no more than trees waiting to be turned into charcoal,’’ he said.
“Without the Great Green Wall, in the face of climate change and desertification, the Sahel may disappear.”
