SWITCH Africa Green Regional Policy Dialogue

SWITCH Africa Green convened about 80 stakeholders from six African countries for a regional policy dialogue in Accra on 23 and 24 March 2017. The objective of the dialogue was to create a common understanding of the policy landscape and enable countries to strengthen their institutions with the appropriate tools and legal instruments for green business development in the four SWITCH Africa Green priority sectors: agriculture, integrated waste management, manufacturing and tourism.

Delivering opening remarks, Mr. Frank Turyatunga, Deputy Director, Regional Office for Africa, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), thanked the Government of Ghana for hosting the regional policy dialogue, and the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation for attending the dialogue and thereby demonstrating the highest level of political will and support for SWITCH Africa Green. 

Mr. Ebenezer Appah-Sampong, Deputy Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana, said that his country’s stance with respect to green business and sustainable consumption and production practices was evidenced by the inauguration of the Ghana National Cleaner Production Centre. He noted that the policy dialogue was an ideal event for stakeholders and policymakers to share best practices and discuss policy priorities. 

Ms. Christine Evans-Klock, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Ghana, underscored the need for agricultural transformation in West Africa to ensure inclusive growth, thereby creating an enabling environment for sustainable growth. She noted that the policy dialogue was important for bringing in stakeholders from Government, civil society and the private sector to share ideas. She stressed the importance of aligning the policy dialogue with the Sustainable Development Goals, especially as it related to agriculture, expanding access to clean and affordable energy for all and attaining sustainable economic growth and development.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Mr. Paolo Salvia reiterated the European Union’s support for the SWITCH Africa Green programme, noting that UNEP had conducted a green economy assessment and identified green business development as a priority. He said that the European Union was committed to supporting middle-income countries in Africa and reassured stakeholders that the regional priorities to be agreed on during the policy dialogue would be supported.

In his keynote address, Mr. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ghana, thanked UNEP for implementing the SWITCH Africa Green programme, saying that the promotion of biogas technology had always been his passion. He noted that most of the SWITCH Africa Green projects were simple, allowing for easy uptake and replication. He confirmed the commitment of the Government of Ghana to assisting the programme, saying that it would not only help Ghana alleviate poverty but also promote environmental conservation. He emphasized that special funds would be allocated to financing green environment projects. 

The opening session was followed by a press conference where the Minister and the representatives of UNEP, the European Union and the Environmental Protection Agency fielded questions from the local and international media.
SWITCH Africa Green provides for each of the six pilot countries to select their national priorities from among the programme’s priority sectors of agriculture, integrated waste management, manufacturing and tourism, and to develop national implementation plans that provide a roadmap and next steps for implementation.

Representing the Economic Community of West African States, Mr. Bernard Koffi said that the SWITCH Africa Green priority sectors were in line with regional policy needs. He stressed the need to mainstream the programme priorities at the national level to reap the benefits of the synergies built at the regional level. He expressed appreciation for the SWITCH Africa Green programme, which was facilitating policy interventions to make the green economy a national priority. 

Mr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel, the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Ghana, spoke about the good prospects and the benefits the region stood to enjoy from the implementation of green economy policies, which would significantly contribute to ending hunger and malnutrition by 2025, one of the goals of FAO.

Representatives from Ecobank and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Ghana attended the session on financing green business development. The panellists acknowledged the challenges to financing green business, noting that the cost of credit was very high. Mr. Solomon Tettey, representing Ecobank, said that the bank was committed to looking into developing products to meet the needs of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). So far, trade financing and contract financing were the two main avenues for financing businesses. The bank was involved in a solar project aimed at providing energy to 25,000 households and MSMEs. Mr. Kwesi Ofori Antwi, speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, pledged the Government’s support for greening businesses by sharing the available avenues for accessing domestic public financing in Ghana, including through the Green Climate Fund and the National Board for Small-Scale Industries.

Mr. Dirk Wegener of UNEP walked the participants through the next steps to be taken after the regional policy dialogue, summarizing the discussions and the actions to be taken. Key actions included the validation of each country’s implementation plan, to be done during the national networking forums, after which the draft roadmap would be fine-tuned in consultation with the National Technical Coordination Committee. Once adopted and validated by the six countries, the policy action plans would receive further support and facilitation from SWITCH Africa Green.