In Côte d’Ivoire, the organisation Experts d’Afrique pour le développement durable (Expadd) is launching a training programme based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The initiative targets business professionals, students and municipal actors in the city of Abidjan. “In the current global context of climate crisis, it is absolutely necessary to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and in particular CO2. This objective requires taking into account the notion of sustainable development,” explains Christophe Gbossu, Expadd’s coordinator.
In the economic capital of Ivory Coast, the learners will be equipped with tools on six themes, notably climate change and carbon assessment, the circular economy, green finance, corporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental impact assessment and sustainable management of natural resources.
This training comes at a time when the Ivorian government is accelerating the implementation of the 17 SDGs. “In the framework of the National Development Plan (NDP) of Ivory Coast based on sustainable development, we have recorded a growth rate of 2% in 2020 and 7% in 2021, particularly in the areas of education, water and agriculture,” said Nialé Kaba, Ivory Coast’s Minister for Planning and Development. She was speaking in July 2022 before the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York, United States of America.
Read also-Ivory Coast: Mankono, Bakoro Sobara and other towns equipped with 1,158 latrines
At the same time, Ivory Coast benefits from the support of its international partners. This is the case of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which recently granted 400,000 euros (262 million CFA francs) for the implementation of 43 projects focusing on renewable energy, agro-ecology, water and sustainable transport. These projects are led by young Ivorians within the framework of the “Orange Corners” programme organised in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the United States African Development Foundation (USADF).
Benoit-Ivan Wansi