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Promise of Green Growth: Africa’s Bright Sustainable Future

Promise of Green Growth: Africa’s Bright Sustainable Future
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A recent report by FSD Africa and Shortlist reveals the green economy's potential to create 3.3 million jobs by 2030, highlighting a significant opportunity for sustainable growth and employment across the continent. Global South Pole's host joins experts to discuss the implications and strategies for long-term development.
The green economy offers significant growth opportunities for Africa, especially given the global need to transition to a more sustainable and inclusive economic model in response to the unsustainable trends driving climate change, Dr. Mao Amis, Co-founder and Executive Director of the African Centre for Green Economy, Cape Town, South Africa, tells Global South Pole.

“Africa is one of the very few places globally that holds the opportunity to enable the world to transition into a much greener economy. And this is partly because Africa's natural resources are relatively intact. Africa has contributed traditionally lesser to global warming […] So presenting really an opportunity for Africa to provide the kind of leadership that is required to transition into a much more inclusive economy,” he explains.

The expert further notes that renewable energy is another sector that will drive this growth in the continent.

“As part of the important aspect of the transition, we need to transition into a much more renewable energy trajectory. And for that reason, the growth in uptake of things like, solar, wind energy, and so on is quite substantial. And that is where the growth is projected to create jobs in Africa. Considering that Africa's majority does not have access to electricity. Renewable energy sources will present an excellent opportunity to fertilize local economies, to create the kind of needed jobs that are required,” Amis says.

However, Dr. Paul Okwi, Senior Program Specialist at the International Development Research Centre [IDRC], Nairobi, Kenya, believes that to harness this potential, much attention should be given to education.

“We are having rapid technological advancements. We are having evolving job markets. We are having global challenges like climate change. All this, we are turning towards addressing issues of the green economy. But most important is the role of education, the role of training, which we see as more the panacea to some of the challenges that I've just highlighted. There are a couple of ways we can use education to support these economies,” Okwi adds.

Dr. Amis believes that partnerships with alliances such as BRICS are what Africa needs, as most of the continent's challenges revolve around technological transfer. Meanwhile, Dr. Okwi highlights that the success of Africa's green growth should be measured using indicators such as the number of green jobs created, the level of gender and youth involvement, and the impact on poverty reduction.
To find out what else our guests had to say, tune in to the Global South Pole podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
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