Green DevTalks for Africa’s green future

DevTalks day for Africa’s green future:

New investment pathways towards sustainable, inclusive development

Co-organised by the OECD Development Centre, the Portuguese EU Presidency,
the European Investment Bank and the Delegation of Portugal to the OECD

Session 1:

Africa and the green transition: How to avoid the low-carbon technology trap and the role of partnerships

Wednesday, 31^st of March 2021, 10:30-12:00 CET - Click to register - Download the agenda

Carla Montesi, Director, Green Deal and Digital Agenda, Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), European Commission (TBC)
Kelechi Ofoegbu, Senior Technical Adviser to the Honourable Minister, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria Giza Gaspar Martins, National Director for Environment and Climate Action, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Angola (TBC)
Lamberto Dai Pra', Head of Africa, Asia and Oceania area, Enel Green Power
Jorge Moreira da Silva, Director of the Development Co-operation Directorate, OECD

Moderated by Mario Pezzini, Director of the OECD Development Centre, Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary-General on Development with introductory remarks by Bernardo Lucena, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the OECD.

African countries face a huge technology gap that could slow their transition and even lock them into high-carbon development pathways. To remain competitive in a low-carbon world, African countries need better access to low-carbon technologies. However, low-income countries account for just 0.01 percent of low-carbon technology exports and 0.3 percent of imports, according to the World Bank. Meanwhile, high-income countries produced 80 percent of all low-carbon technology innovations between 2010 and 2015.

At a global scale, accelerating technology transfers to expand the use of low-carbon technologies in developing countries will be essential to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, developing countries need to seize opportunities linked to global decarbonisation, including strengthening their own low carbon industries. But in Africa, countries face a number of entry barriers, like high up-front capital costs, technology-related market failures and limited national technological capabilities. So, how to break down these obstacles whilst also strengthening African countries’ ability to access and adapt imported technologies to local contexts? How can African countries take on a more active role in driving low-carbon technology innovation?

This DevTalk will delve into the domestic and multilateral policy measures and partnerships needed to accelerate technology transfer to African countries, while strengthening their integration into global low-carbon technology value chains.

Watch session 1 live:

Session 2:

Unleashing the potential of cities to shape Africa’s sustainable future

Wednesday, 31^st of March 2021, 14:00 - 15:30 CET - Click to register - Download the agenda

Firdaous Oussidhoum, Special Adviser to the UCLG Secretary-General
Eleni Kyrou, Head of Representation of Ethiopia to the African Union, European Investment Bank (TBC)
Manuel Araujo, Mayor of Quelimane, Mozambique
Laurent Bossard, Director of the Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat of the OECD
Simi Siwisa, Barclays Africa Group – ABSA (TBC)

Moderated by Mario Pezzini, Director of the OECD Development Centre, Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary-General on Development with introductory remarks by João Ribeiro de Almeida, Ambassador, President of Camões, Institute for Co-operation and Language

Africa’s fast growing urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to climate risks. For instance, cities like Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania are facing increased flooding, rising temperatures and coastal erosion. The impacts are already weighing heavily on the most vulnerable populations. While urbanisation brings unprecedented opportunities for improving African people’s wellbeing, climate change is disrupting this potential. Moreover, climate change is affecting urban-rural linkages which are fundamental to linking rural populations to key infrastructure and services. For example, when Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique in 2019, it destroyed basic infrastructure and homes, isolated rural populations and prevented them from accessing emergency relief in the city of Beira.

Accelerating an ecological transition is a global shared priority. It will require major agreements at the multilateral level, but also experimentation and innovation. Cities have proven to be powerful laboratories for piloting new solutions to leapfrog into a green transition, and the African continent cannot afford to bypass their potential. For instance, cities can experiment through local policies and regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions in key sectors such as transport and energy. Moreover, cities play a key role in shaping consumer awareness and demands, and strengthening green industries by fostering green start-ups and entrepreneurship.

So how can African countries bolster the role of their cities in accelerating the green transition? How to implement urban development plans that will spur a profound ecological transformation of African cities’ economic activities, whilst accounting for the intrinsic connection between urban and rural areas? What national and international partnerships do African cities need to achieve this?

This DevTalk will gather key African stakeholders and their international partners to discuss the role of cities in accelerating the ecological transition in Africa.