Innovative Solutions for accelerating Africa's transition towards inclusive Green Economy through Sustainable Consumption & Production pract...

The EU-funded SWITCH Africa Green Programme supports African countries in their transition to inclusive green economy and in promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) practises and patterns. UN Environment, in collaboration with UNDP and UNOPS, have been implementing phase I of the programme since 2014 in six countries across Africa: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, and Uganda. Phase II of the programme was initiated in 2018 and is currently being implemented by UN Environment and European Union Delegations in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda. The programme has three components: Policy Support, Green Business Development and a Networking Facility.

The policy development component aims at equipping and strengthening institutions through provision of appropriate tools and instruments for green business development including policies, regulatory frameworks, incentive structures, tax and market-based instruments that allow private sector led inclusive green growth through green business entrepreneurship, eco-innovation and sustainable consumption and production in the region.
The green business development component is aimed at supporting the transition towards an inclusive green economy by providing support to Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through not for profit intermediary organizations (e.g. NGOs, private sector associations…) to enable them start and develop green businesses or apply or uptake sustainable consumption and production practices and patterns.

The Networking Facility aims to distill and share knowledge, lessons learned and best practices from the policy and green business development components through national and regional networks, a comprehensive stakeholders engagement process and activities creating broader awareness and increased understanding of green business development in the region. More details are available at the programme website: https://www.unep.org/switchafricagreen/

The first regional networking forum was held in Kampala, Uganda on 28-29 May 2016 and focused on the opportunities, challenges and barriers faced by the private sector in scaling up and replicating green business in Africa and foster networking between different stakeholders in the programme.

The second regional networking forum will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 3-4 October 2018 and will bring together SWITCH Africa partners and stakeholders to share lessons and experiences; build synergy and complementarity; and explore opportunities for scaling up and replicating successful interventions in the programme.

Context

Green entrepreneurs are key actors for innovation, promoting efficiency and productivity and generating new products and services to satisfy human needs and generate green jobs and increased incomes, while protecting the environment. For this to happen, the entrepreneurs require an enabling environment, capacity development and awareness of the opportunities – economic, social and environmental for greening their businesses. Through the SWITCH Africa Green programme, about 3000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been supported in the uptake of innovative green business and SCP practices across four priority sectors (Agriculture, Integrated Waste Management, Manufacturing and Tourism) and five cross cutting themes (Energy Efficiency, Labelling and Standards, Water Efficiency, Eco-innovation and Sustainable Trade). The implementation of innovative green business practises and sustainable consumption and production practises by the entrepreneurs has resulted in: increased productivity, improved time efficiency, cost savings, increased incomes, better working conditions, improved health, decent job creation, cleaner environment, among other benefits.

The forum will provide networking opportunities with green entrepreneurs, industry leaders, government officials and non-state actors. It will offer learning opportunities from a range of best practices in green business development in the various sectors. It will provide opportunities to build partnerships and collaborations between different programmes in green economy and sustainable consumption and production practices.

Objectives of the Regional Networking Forum

The main objectives of second SWITCH Africa Green regional networking forum are:

• Share opportunities and challenges, lessons and experiences as well as build synergy and complementarity between different stakeholders involved in green business development and SCP activities.
• Provide a platform for discussions on how to advance an enabling environment for green enterprises in the participating countries and Africa as a whole.
• Explore opportunities for scaling up and replicating successful interventions in the programme.
• Contribute to the Rebranding Africa Forum (RAF) that will be held back to back with the Regional Networking Forum.

During the networking forum there will be an exhibition from participating enterprises, partner programmes including SWITCH Asia and SWITCH Med as well as other best practices from selected programmes to showcase how they have greened their businesses and share the opportunities and lessons learnt. The exhibition will provide a platform for these enterprises to inspire others by displaying their knowledge, best practices and lessons learned.

Participants

Participants will be drawn from the seven SWITCH Africa Green participating countries and other stakeholders involved in SCP activities and include: government representatives, financial institutions, regional economic communities, international development organisations and partners, civil society and the private sector. In addition, members of the SWITCH Africa Green Joint Steering Committee: European Commission, UN Environment, UNDP and UNOPS will participate in the forum. The forum is jointly organised by Ministry of Environment, Green Economy and Climate Change (MEEVCC) of Burkina Faso, United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), European Union Delegations (in the seven countries participating in the programme). It is supported and funded by the European Union and the Government of the Republic of Burkina Faso.

Rebranding Africa Forum

The regional networking forum will be held back to back with the Africa Rebranding forum 5-6 October 2018. The Rebranding Africa Forum (RAF) has been held in Brussels since 2014 (four editions) and the Fifth Edition will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 5-6 October 2018. The theme of the Rebranding Africa Forum is: “Challenges and Opportunities of the Green Economy in Africa”. For more information see: https://rebranding-africa.com/

Given its theme on challenges and opportunities of Green Economy in Africa, the Rebranding Africa Forum presents a great opportunity for SWITCH Africa green stakeholders to network with other stakeholders, key players and actors involved in driving the green economy agenda. SWITCH Africa green will demonstrate that the transition to a green economy in Africa is already underway but more needs to be done to scale up and replicate such programmes in the region.