Hope as curtain falls on Africa Climate Summit

As the curtains come down on the Africa Climate Summit 2023, the question is whether the climate traps identified by heads of state will undo decades of development efforts.

The landmark meeting, the brainchild of President William Ruto, identified loss and damage as an environmental setback.

The Nairobi Declaration made it clear that the future of 1.3 billion Africans depends on immediate, substantial and sustained financial commitments from the global North.

For many ordinary citizens on the continent, their expectations were tied to an end to famine, energy poverty, regional conflicts, patriarchal oppression, economic insecurity, debt and a host of other obstacles.

"The summit is over. Now it's time for a comprehensive approach that addresses the full range of losses and damages that have caused the price of basic food to skyrocket," says Monica Muthoni, 65, from Dandora.

"I have suffered from the effects of climate change. I am a hawker and today I can't afford the cabbages and other vegetables I used to buy because they are scarce and when they are available, I don't have the money," she added.

Mr Cidi Otieno, a smallholder farmer from Migori County, said: "You cannot get a solution from people who are the main cause of the problem. Smallholder farmers should have been represented at the negotiating table.

Ms Rachel Mwikali, a member of the Coalition of Human Rights Defenders from the Mathare slums, said: "The gender and climate justice perspective was conspicuously absent from the agenda table, yet it affects women and their sexual reproductive system."

Mary Afan, a farmer and coordinator of women smallholder farmers in Nigeria, said: "Governments and funders must prioritise increased support and agro-ecological training for smallholder farmers and encourage an end to deforestation and the overuse of chemicals to produce commodities; supporting agro-ecology means we are moving towards financing nature, not destruction."

Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid, said: "The international banks that are fuelling the climate crisis must now listen to the voices of the Global South and stop funding projects that will lead to climate destruction."

It was clear from the summit that many African leaders are spending sleepless nights because of mounting debt.

According to the latest data from the World Bank, Africa's debt is at its highest level in more than a decade.

African countries owe $644.9 billion to external creditors. Kenya currently pays up to $8 billion a year to service its debt.

As a result of COVID-19, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and soaring inflation, African countries have had to borrow even more, and now 21 low-income African countries are either bankrupt or at high risk of debt distress.

This debt distress was well summarised by President Ruto who said: “We don't want to die in this continent, we don't want to die of debt, and we don't want to die of poverty, that is why we must have a conversation around multilateral development banks and concessional financing of our economies.”

But African experts in green energy and climate change say there is a huge opportunity for this continent to become a green leader, food-resilient continent that is able to meet its food and energy needs within its boundaries

A report co-authored by Youba Sokona, Yacob Mulugetta, Meron Tesfamichael, Prof Fadhel Kaboub, Niclas Hallstrom, Mathew Stilwell, Mr Mohamed Adow, and Colin Besaans, released during the summit titled ‘Just Transition’ lays bare the intertwined challenges facing the continent.

According to the report, African economies suffer at least three structural deficiencies that constrain development potential and include a lack of food sovereignty, lack of energy sovereignty, and low value-added content of exports relative to imports.

“These deficiencies in turn contributed to structural trade deficits, weakened African currencies and pressure to issue debt denominated in foreign currencies resulting in more indebtedness,” said the 89-page report.

The report added: “African countries can and must break away from current entrapments with international debts and prescriptions that only aggravate unhealthy dependencies. African countries can diversify their economies and prioritise energy and food sovereignty to enhance autonomy and self-reliance.”

Prof Kaboub said: “Africa needs a Pan-African industrial policy to deliver electricity to 600 million people and 970 million people lacking clean cooking gas and are inhaling toxic fumes every day. This is the transformation we need.”

Photo: President of Kenya William Ruto (C) surrounded by other African leaders delivers his closing speech during the closure of the Africa Climate Summit 2023 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi on September 6, 2023.