The African Development Bank (AfDB) will mobilize $6.5 billion for the Great Green Wall Initiative.
By Edouard Touré
The resources will be used to implement a series of programmes in support of the Great Green Wall, drawing from internal and external funding sources, including the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), the Green Climate Fund (GCCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
“As we recover from coronavirus and its impact on our world, we need to readjust our growth model. We must prioritise growth that protects the environment and biodiversity, and stop focusing on growth that compromises our common good,” AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said in a press release.
The Great Green Wall’s plan is to plant a mosaic of trees, grasslands, vegetation and plants over 8,000 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide across the Sahara and Sahel.
“The Great Green Wall is part of the system of environmental protection in Africa” and is “a shield against the onslaught of desertification and environmental degradation,” he said.
“The future of the Sahel region depends on the Great Green Wall. Without it, the Sahel risks disappearing under the impact of climate change and desertification,” Adesina pointed out.
He added: “The Great Green Wall is a wall worth building, a wall that brings people together, not a wall that separates them, shelters and not isolates but also a wall that protects our collective existence”.
TE/lb/as/APA