APA-Dakar (Senegal) The new executive director of this organisation that campaigns for the protection of the environment takes office in a context where “multiple environmental injustices continue to plague” in Africa.
Dr. Oulie Keita succeeds Paul Ngugi, who has served as interim Executive Director of Greenpeace Africa since September 2022.
A development expert born in Mali, Ms. Keita was appointed Executive Director of Greenpeace Africa “after an intensive and competitive recruitment process aimed at taking the organization to another level in its fight for environmental justice,” says a statement to APA over the weekend.
The organisation explains that Oulie Keita joined it at a pivotal moment because of the African biodiversity which is going through a difficult period.
From deforestation in the Congo Basin to overfishing in West Africa, through dependence on fossil fuels in South Africa and East Africa which is encouraged to turn to ecological agriculture, “multiple environmental injustices continue to plague the continent,” Greenpeace notes cheerlessly.
With 20 years of experience in international development, Dr. Keita says she is ready to meet these
challenges.
“Africa is capable of leading the global movement for environmental justice. We have enough tools to do so. We cannot continue to follow the rest of the world on the same path that leads to climate catastrophe,” the new executive director of Greenpeace Africa says, damning “the consequences of the activities of large polluters” on the continent.
“African women and youth deserve a bright and promising future. The climate crisis has disastrous consequences on them, depriving them of their rights. Our key challenge is to ensure that governments, polluters and for-profit companies are stopped in their tracks and prevented from destroying our future,” says Ms. Keita, who has also worked on policy, advocacy and lobbying issues at various levels in Africa.
“Greenpeace Africa is at the forefront of protecting and preserving the environment across the continent, which faces enormous challenges. It is essential to build a movement led by women and youth who are the next generation of leaders and guardians of our heritage and environment in Africa. We are confident that Dr. Keita will make this movement more impactful across the continent,” says Oury Traore, the board chairman of Greenpeace Africa.
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