Green business development is a process that requires new skills and, in some cases, significant financial investments – although green technology has become more affordable over the past decades, it still remains relatively expensive. Green technology also requires specific skills. In the context of Burkina Faso, very few companies appear to be able and willing to acquire such technologies. Moreover, the State’s priorities and its lack of financial resources and skills restrict its involvement in the process. The country’s difficulties with the implementation of its programme for economic growth in the agricultural sector (PCESA) highlight this issue.
To address the challenges in green business development in Burkina Faso, SWITCH Africa Green interventions are focused on:
- Capacity-building (initial training, in-service training) on sustainable consumption and production and green business development;
- Support for access to financial and material resources, including clear identification of innovative financing mechanisms for green business development and reform of financial subsidies;
- Support for appropriate green technologies, including through incentives for innovation and/or the import of appropriate technologies and dissemination of findings to allow replication.
More broadly, the micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) involved in SWITCH Africa Green projects benefit from technical advice on eco-innovation and on aspects of sustainable consumption and production, such as resource efficiency, integrated waste management, energy efficiency and industrial symbiosis, as well as from general business advice on management, including financial management.
