The overall objective of SWITCH Africa Green is to support countries in Africa to achieve sustainable development by engaging in the transition towards an inclusive green economy, based on sustainable consumption and production patterns, while generating growth, creating decent jobs and reducing poverty.
SWITCH Africa Green aims for the following outcomes:
- Micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises and business service providers that are better equipped to seize opportunities for green business development;
- Better informed public and private consumers;
- Enabling conditions in the form of clear policies, sound regulatory frameworks, appropriate incentives and taxes and other fiscal and market-based instruments that influence key sectors in African countries.
SWITCH Africa Green focuses on four sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, integrated waste management and tourism. These sectors tend to offer good opportunities for the advancement of green business, sustainable consumption and production practices, job creation and social inclusion. Each country selects which of the four sectors it wishes to prioritize for its SWITCH Africa Green interventions, based on its specific national circumstances and opportunities and following country-level consultations with key stakeholders.
Within the priority sectors, specific actions address five cross-cutting themes: energy efficiency, labelling and standards, water efficiency, eco-innovation and sustainable trade.
SWITCH Africa Green is implemented through three strongly related components designed to reinforce each other at the country level:
