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Why Africa needs a green bank to fund climate action and build its own renewable technology (theconversation.com)
submitted 5 months ago by [M] to c/solarpunk@slrpnk.net
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Climate change is a profound challenge to the livelihoods of many people in African countries who have contributed so little to its cause. More frequent extreme weather events (floods, heatwaves and droughts) are making hunger, insecurity and displacement much worse. The continent holds an estimated 30% of the minerals that are essential for the future transition away from fossil fuels. However, Africa mostly exports these raw, leaving companies in other countries to reap the rewards of manufacturing low-carbon technologies and digital infrastructure. Sustainable development economists Michael Adetayo Olabisi and Howard Stein propose a new African “green bank” as a solution.

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[–] 6 points 5 months ago

They contributed by being most exploited continent. Basically all electronics have African minerals blood on them.

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    [–] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    @SteveKLord Africa has quite a few well-functioning community-owned green banks! Even in Kenya the Sacco Banks are very important.

    It's just that they don't mesh well with "development funds" which require African states to be dependent on the Western definitions of progress, capital, sustainability.

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    @SteveKLord even the article mentions https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/africa-structural-adjustment-did-not-trigger-fast-growth-had-contractive-impact

    > In Africa, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank do not have a good reputation. Many people consider them agencies of misery, poverty and social distress. This perception is driven by the experience of the structural-adjustment programmes that the international financial institutions (IFIs) insisted on in the 1980s and 1990s.

    IMF insisted that free education of Africans is a waste of money.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I don't think the article contains any endorsement of the IMF

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    @SteveKLord the way I read it supports IMF / World Bank by embracing the language they use to talk about finances.

    What's wrong with coop banks? Why does that state need to be involved (which would require IMF to be an intermediary)?

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I didn't read it that way at all and don't have any issue with those things. It's just one possible proposition that the authors made and I shared to this forum. . Could you word your responsea a bit more constructively?

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    @SteveKLord yes, you're right, I'm just cranky. I work with a lot of African activists and I'm just really annoyed by another Western economic approach of What Should Africa Do To Help Itself.

    I'd love to see more focus on existing structures such as cooperatives which are really HUGE in a lot of Subsaharan countries.

    The language of western economy stops us from seeing a lot of what's there. What if the transport is not public or private, but communal, coop-owned instead?

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 5 months ago

    All good. It's clear that you're passionate as we all are and I appreciate the feedback. We're all learning and trying to find the best solutions as well. Criticism is important but discussions can sometimes break down easily here is all.

    You bring up a lot of good points and I think those things are certainly aspirational. Cooperatives are great and worth working towards and highly beneficial which I say that from having once been part of a large coop who worked with cooperatives in Africa. I personally don't think state-control of anything should be the ultimate goal but as you pointed there are reasons some funding is lagging behind in certain regions that can be nuanced and complex. For some regions, maybe this could give them a bit more of a chance?

    Ultimately I absolutely agree that this is the decision of citizens of African nations on a local level and private funding and implementation is not a long term solution. I would love to see more of the forms you mentioned and hear more from African voices . In a world largely dominated by the English language due to colonialism, maybe articles like this can at least be reminders of issues not always covered in the news and potential solutions. It certainly generated some good discussion and I'll check out the links you shared.

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    • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Does Africa need to build it themselves?

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