LAGOS, April 23 (Xinhua) -- President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Akinwumi Adesina has expressed optimism that the Africa continent has vast opportunities for green growth.
"Africa is a huge market offering incredible opportunities. The recovery pathway offers enormous opportunities. Recovery must be green and build climate resilience. Recovery must boost green investments," said Adesina in a statement reaching Xinhua on Friday.
He spoke at the European Union-Africa Green Investment Forum on Friday, convened by Portugal and the European Investment Bank to mobilize private and public capital toward the green transition in Africa, the bank said in the statement.
Adesina identified energy, agriculture and infrastructure as key areas of investment potential for a post-COVID-19 recovery in Africa.
With abundant solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy resources, Africa's energy transition alone presents a 100 billion U.S. dollars per year investment opportunity, Adesina said.
According to the AfDB chief, agriculture potentially offers massive investments in climate-smart crops to build more resilient food systems and climate-resilient infrastructure offers investment potential of 130 billion- 170 billion dollars.
The AfDB is in the vanguard of investment in climate adaptation, he said, but over 70 percent of the financing needed will need to come from the private sector to complement public investments.
"The private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, is critical in mitigating climate change and implementing adaptation methods. This calls for innovative approaches to attract and steer financial flows toward low carbon and climate-resilient development," Adesina said.
"A greener Africa must also focus on the circular economy, in which waste can be recycled and turned into wealth," he added. Enditem
