Second SWITCH Africa Green Regional Networking Forum

The Second Switch Africa Green Regional Networking Forum was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 3-4 October 2018 and brought together SWITCH Africa Green 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. The theme of the forum was “Innovative Solutions for Accelerating Africa’s Transition towards Inclusive Green Economy through Sustainable Consumption and Production practices”.

This forum was a follow up to the first regional networking forum which was held in Kampala, Uganda in 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 forum provided networking opportunities with green entrepreneurs, industry leaders, government officials and non-state actors.  It offered learning opportunities from a range of best practices in green business development in the various sectors. It provided   a platform 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 the second SWITCH Africa Green Regional Networking forum were:

• 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 was 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 provided a platform for these enterprises to inspire others by displaying their knowledge, best practices and lessons learned.

Sharing knowledge and experience on greening businesses

The Switch Africa Green Regional Networking Forums provide a platform for sharing experiences on initiatives and enabling conditions geared to actualizing a green economy in Africa. The Second Networking Forum was one such stage where stakeholders from various sectors forged a way forward to ensure scaling up and replication of green initiatives that were birthed in the first regional networking forum in Kampala, Uganda. 

The first session of the forum set the scene with high-level representatives lending a voice to the importance of sustainable consumption and production in Africa’s transition to a green economy and improved livelihoods. The distinguished speakers noted the success of the Switch Africa Green programme and the positive impacts the MSMEs had depicted.

Networking and partnerships provide opportunities for scaling up

In session 2, the substantive parts of the forum were ushered in with discussions focusing on greening Africa as a region and it was indicated that networking and partnerships provided opportunities for replication and scaling up. The success and challenges of Switch Africa Green programme were projected to give stakeholders a clear indication of its impact.

In session 3, success stories of the Switch programmes that is the Switch Africa Green, Switch MED and Switch Asia, showcased the positive impacts that include: Energy efficiency that has amounted to 40% savings in Mauritius; high profits realized through industrial symbiosis amounting to over USD 780,800 for MSMEs in Uganda; the Switch MED programme has led to creation of 150 new green businesses and 47 green entrepreneurs. In Switch Asia, their approach using the communities of Interests that bring together key stakeholders to produce insights and exchange knowledge that will inform policy processes in SCP.

Green Financing mechanism crucial to scaling up

Session 4 was an eye opener on avenues for green financing. Mechanisms such as Africa Agriculture Trade and Investment Fund which is established to support sustainable agriculture in Africa and the 10YFP Trust Fund that would be focused on implementation based on national policies and SCP action plans were discussed. Africa Development Bank addressed the possibility of the Global Climate Fund as an avenue for green financing.

Enabling policies sum up the solution for greening the four sectors

Session 5consisted of group discussions where participants were tasked to look at the four high impact areas namely agriculture, manufacturing, integrated waste and tourism. The groups provided feedback on the challenges they face in greening the sectors and the possible solutions at hand. Areas of interest in the discussions were funding for upscaling, lack of capacity on green practices and the need for enabling policies nationally.

In Session 6, Phase II grantees an opportunity to pitch their projects. In Kenya, for example, Green Eco tourism is looking at a specific certification for Kenya tour operators as well as expert coaching of the tour operators on greening their businesses. Solidaridad in South Africa aims to reach 750 farmers and encourage value addition to their organic produce.

Sustainable procurement a new vehicle that can drive markets in the direction of sustainability

In session 7 the participants broke out into groups to discuss the factors that would enhance the accelerating of green business development in Africa. These factors include, among others, policy support, training, youth and women led enterprises, scaling up and replication.

The forum concluded with a high-level interactive and consultative panel session that brought together key stakeholders from the European Union, Government of Burkina, UN Environment and Private sector to discuss the way forward in implementing Phase II of the project and scaling up and replication of existing interventions.