One of the most frequent narratives you’ll hear when it comes to rolling out green initiatives in Africa is that doing so puts much-needed growth at risk.
Historically, it hasn’t been one without merit either.
African countries are, after all, reportedly responsible for just four percent of global emissions.
Given that they’ve contributed so little to the climate crisis, the argument goes, why should they be expected to slash their emissions, potentially at the cost of growth and development, even as developed countries continue to push large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere?
Such arguments miss out on one big point, however. And that’s that green initiatives, incentives, and policies don’t have to come at the cost of development. In fact, the opposite is true. The right green projects, particularly in the renewable energy space, can fuel growth and drive development. Moreover, such projects can sit at the heart of green communities that fuel further, sustained growth.
Before looking at how that might happen, it’s worth looking at how big some of the green opportunities in Africa are.
Take the agricultural sector, for example.
According to a study by the Unep, adopting things like organic farming, precision agriculture, and agroforestry could help enhance productivity, minimise human impacts on nature, and avoid food insecurity.
Perhaps the biggest green opportunities for the continent, however, lie in renewable energy. One obvious opportunity lies in the solar space. Africa is, after all, home to 60 percent of the world’s best solar resources but just one percent of installed capacity, according to the International Energy Agency.
When those solar resources are combined with other untapped renewable energy sources such as wind, hydro, biomass, and geothermal resources, the potential value is even greater.
According to the Unep, they could increase the continent’s GDP by 6.4 percent from 2021 to 2050 and generate anywhere from 100 percent to 400 percent of current global energy demand. Even with Africa’s predicted population growth, that means there’s a significant opportunity for Africa to become a net exporter of clean energy.
More than 40 African States, for instance, were revising their national climate plans in 2022 to be more ambitious and outline greater commitments to climate adaptation and mitigation measures.
Additionally, several major African cities have embraced sustainability. The Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index 2022, which measures urban sustainability across cities, ranks Nairobi at 96 out of 100 global cities.
Kenya's Vision 2030 road map has sustainability at its core in making the country achieve middle income status in the next seven years.
As investors in Africa, we need to be agile and equip our clients to implement climate adaptation and mitigation measures that ensure the sustainability of their businesses and create the desired impact.
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