This Call
for Discussion is directed to all Chairs, Speakers, Moderators, Panellists, Delegates,
Organisers and other Participants in this year’s Africa summits, conferences,
meetings and decision-making forums. The record number of events focused on
Africa in 2013 proves beyond doubt that the continent is at last moving into a
position of influence in global affairs (1). In a crisis-ridden and faltering
global economy Africa is seen as the new engine of economic growth. Put
together, the participants in this year’s events represent the greatest
gathering of ‘Afro-optimists’ ever assembled, discussing a wide range of
subjects whose outcomes will influence how the next chapter of Africa’s growth
story unfolds. Each meeting, unique in its composition, holds a key to Africa’s
future.
However, while optimism in Africa has reached spectacular heights in recent years, there is enough evidence to suggest that caution is needed at all levels of discussion. This is Africa’s third era of hope and while this time is certainly different, so much unfortunately is still the same. Business-as-usual, or the old ‘brown’ economy, which has failed Africa so dramatically in the past, is still the most dominant force on the continent and is expanding fast. Yet sustainability as a means to address the externalities or ‘hidden costs’ of business-as-usual in Africa is given very little space in most of this year’s meetings. The green economy, which African leaders increasingly recognise as the only viable route to achieving sustainability and resilience, is not even mentioned on most agendas. Climate change, the biggest hidden cost of the brown economy and one which threatens Africa more than any other, is also absent from most Africa meetings in 2013.
This could be a pivotal year for Africa, the last frontier for investment. This, therefore, is a call for the green economy to be included in all discussions on Africa’s potential and Africa’s future. In the last 20 years African countries have made huge progress in green development and are in a unique position to take the lead in the evolving global green economy. The UN’s Rio+20 ‘Earth Summit’ in June 2012 confirmed that the green economy is not a luxury but a 21st century imperative. Africa’s Consensus Statement to Rio+20 made it clear that the continent is ready for a rapid expansion of the green economy we all must eventually build. Leading Africans from Meles Zenawi, late prime minister of Ethiopia, to Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general and Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, have been telling us for years that green growth is critical to Africa’s future. This year’s meetings on Africa are the most important forums to explore ways forward.
Possible areas for discussion as a way of understanding the green economy in Africa are: (1) the history of industrial development on the continent from 1950-1990 which will show how the hidden costs of the high carbon, resource intensive, ecologically degrading and social divisive brown economy caused failures in the past and will cause failures in the future; (2) the history of green development and the evolution of the green economy in Africa, from the Lem Meeting in Addis Ababa in June 1992 (held in conjunction with the UN’s first Rio Summit) to Rio+20 in June 2012, and (3) how Africa’s green economies can be measured, developed and expanded to meet the world’s urgent need for green growth as the only long-term way to rebalance the global economy and save the planet. Africa’s under-developed brown economies are now Africa’s greatest advantage for building a green economy.
However, while optimism in Africa has reached spectacular heights in recent years, there is enough evidence to suggest that caution is needed at all levels of discussion. This is Africa’s third era of hope and while this time is certainly different, so much unfortunately is still the same. Business-as-usual, or the old ‘brown’ economy, which has failed Africa so dramatically in the past, is still the most dominant force on the continent and is expanding fast. Yet sustainability as a means to address the externalities or ‘hidden costs’ of business-as-usual in Africa is given very little space in most of this year’s meetings. The green economy, which African leaders increasingly recognise as the only viable route to achieving sustainability and resilience, is not even mentioned on most agendas. Climate change, the biggest hidden cost of the brown economy and one which threatens Africa more than any other, is also absent from most Africa meetings in 2013.
This could be a pivotal year for Africa, the last frontier for investment. This, therefore, is a call for the green economy to be included in all discussions on Africa’s potential and Africa’s future. In the last 20 years African countries have made huge progress in green development and are in a unique position to take the lead in the evolving global green economy. The UN’s Rio+20 ‘Earth Summit’ in June 2012 confirmed that the green economy is not a luxury but a 21st century imperative. Africa’s Consensus Statement to Rio+20 made it clear that the continent is ready for a rapid expansion of the green economy we all must eventually build. Leading Africans from Meles Zenawi, late prime minister of Ethiopia, to Kofi Annan, former UN secretary-general and Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, have been telling us for years that green growth is critical to Africa’s future. This year’s meetings on Africa are the most important forums to explore ways forward.
Possible areas for discussion as a way of understanding the green economy in Africa are: (1) the history of industrial development on the continent from 1950-1990 which will show how the hidden costs of the high carbon, resource intensive, ecologically degrading and social divisive brown economy caused failures in the past and will cause failures in the future; (2) the history of green development and the evolution of the green economy in Africa, from the Lem Meeting in Addis Ababa in June 1992 (held in conjunction with the UN’s first Rio Summit) to Rio+20 in June 2012, and (3) how Africa’s green economies can be measured, developed and expanded to meet the world’s urgent need for green growth as the only long-term way to rebalance the global economy and save the planet. Africa’s under-developed brown economies are now Africa’s greatest advantage for building a green economy.
Thank you for your attention.
(1) PRELIMINARY LIST OF AFRICA-FOCUSED OR AFRICA-RELATED CONFERENCES IN 2013. THIS WILL BE ADDED TO AS MORE ARE DISCOVERED. IT IS WORTH NOTING AGAIN THAT, WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS, SUSTAINABILITY, THE GREEN ECONOMY, ADAPTATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE DO NOT FEATURE IN THE FOLLOWING AFRICA MEETINGS.
JANUARY
- 20th African Union Summit - PanAfricanism and African Renaissance - Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia
FEBRUARY
- 20th Annual Investing in African Mining Indaba
– Cape Town, South Africa
- Economist Africa Summit – Africa Unchained: the Next Generation – London, UK
- 15th Annual Africa Business Conference, Harvard
Business School – Redefining Africa: the Emergence of a New Africa Story -
Allston, MA, USA
- Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition – Abuja,
Nigeria
- Economist Conferences – Healthcare in Africa – Cape Town, South Africa
MARCH
- BRICS SUMMIT (brics5.co.za) - BRICS and AFRICA: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation -
- BRICS SUMMIT (brics5.co.za) - BRICS and AFRICA: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation -
- Crans Montana Forum, 7th Annual Africa Session
– Africa in 2013, Upheavals and Changes
– Brussels, Belgium
- Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum - Cape Town, South Africa
- Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum - Cape Town, South Africa
- 1st Mozambique Gas Summit – Maputo, Mozambique
- African Refiners Association Week – Cape Town, South Africa
- World Investment Conference North Africa - Marrakech, Morocco
- Offshore West Africa (offshorewestafrica.com) - Deepwater Discoveries, Emerging Opportunities - Accra, Ghana
- World Investment Conference North Africa - Marrakech, Morocco
- Offshore West Africa (offshorewestafrica.com) - Deepwater Discoveries, Emerging Opportunities - Accra, Ghana
APRIL
- OECD Global Forum on Development (oecd.org) - Paris, France
- African Venture Capital Association Conference (avcanet.com) - Cape Town, South Africa
- Liberia Mining, Energy & Petroleum Conference (limep.com) - Cape Town, South Africa
- OECD Global Forum on Development (oecd.org) - Paris, France
- African Venture Capital Association Conference (avcanet.com) - Cape Town, South Africa
- Liberia Mining, Energy & Petroleum Conference (limep.com) - Cape Town, South Africa
MAY
- Africa Global Business Forum – Bridging the Continent to the World – Dubai, UAE
- 3rd Annual Oxford Pan-African Conference - Towards a 21st Century African Renaissance:
Sowing the Seeds of Success – Oxford, UK
- 23rd World Economic Forum on Africa – Delivering on Africa’s Promise – Cape Town,
South Africa
- 1st Youth Investment Summit – The Road to Economic Growth – Accra,
Ghana
- Careers in Africa - International
Recruitment Summit – London, UK
- 21st AU Summit – 50th Anniversary of the African Union – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- AFDB Annual Meetings – Africa’s
Structural Transformation – Marrakech, Morocco
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
No comments:
Post a Comment