Africas low industrial base presents an opportunity to develop clean energy manufacturing and the worlds first green industrial civilisation, Professor Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo, immediate past vice president of Nigeria, argued in the eighth Babacar Ndiaye Lecture in Washington DC on 26 October. The annual lecture celebrates the achievements and legacy of the late Ndiaye, who led the African Development Bank from 1985 to 1995. Ndiaye is also credited with the establishment of many African institutions such as Shelter Afrique, the African Business Roundtable and the African Export-Import Bank, organisers of the lecture.
Speaking before Osinbajo, Professor Benedict Okey Oramah, president of Afreximbank, paid tribute to Ndiaye, whose conviction led him to conceive and lead the creation of several pro-African institutions endowed with unique features that gave them a fighting chance against the violence of dependence and the instability of divide and conquer that had kept Africa and Africans down for decades. Due to Ndiayes foresight, he said, these institutions have been available to support African countries through various crises since the 1980s. During most of these crises, African multilateral financial institutions created through Dr. Ndiayes efforts, such as Afreximbank, played key roles in mitigating the impacts.
Oramah said Ndiaye believed that climate change is the greatest threat to development, particularly in Africa, where millions of people depend on the environment for their livelihoods.
The Free Trade Area as a solutionOramah presented the African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA as a solution to address climate change one that does not undermine the continents trade and economic growth. He noted that the agreement, signed in 2018 and effective from the following year, offers Africa a means to reduce its carbon emissions by fostering industrial activities within the continent. By keeping value addition local, Oramah said, AfCFTA helps to cut down on the emissions generated from shipping raw materials to distant locations for processing and then re-importing them.
Speaking on Saving Lives Today versus Saving the Planet for the Future Can the AfCFTA Resolve the Climate Change Dilemma? Osinbajo acknowledged the climate threat that Africa faces pointing out that the Horn of Africa has been facing its worst drought in 40 years, with five consecutive failed rainy seasons since 2020. This is in spite of the fact that at 4, the continent has contributed the least to the global emissions that scientists say are responsible for climate change.
