Good news for the Strengthening Zambezi River Basin Management for Climate Resilience and Ecosystem Health project. Its implementation is no longer in doubt thanks to $10.5 million in funding announced by the African Development Bank (AfDB). This is slightly more than the initial cost of the project, estimated at 9.4 million dollars. The support from the financial institution will be taken from the overall envelope of $18 million it has just secured from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The GEF contribution was approved recently at the GEF Board meeting in Washington DC, USA. The Zambezi River Initiative aims to improve collaborative management of water, energy, food and environmental resources in the basin (2,750 km), which spans eight countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Angola.
Strategic funding
“Millions of people will be positively impacted by the progress made in agriculture, fisheries and the exploitation of dams. In addition, cross-border cooperation, integrated planning and adaptive management practices will be strengthened to ensure the resilience of the basin and the health of the ecosystem”, says the AfDB.
The other part of the $18 million, i.e. $7.8 million, will be used to finance the Global Electronic Product Management (GEM) Programme in East Africa. The target countries are Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. The aim is to “considerably reduce the production of electronic waste and increase circularity”, says Anthony Nyong.
An opportunity to explore for the circular economy
To better understand the issues raised by the Director of the Climate Change and Green Growth Department at the AfDB, it is important to consider a few facts. Firstly, the 54 million tonnes of electronic waste generated worldwide in 2019. This represents an increase of 21% in just five years, according to the latest United Nations Global E-waste Monitor report. Then there’s the 17% that represents the volume of e-waste collected and recycled worldwide. This is insignificant when you consider that China (10 million tonnes), the United States of America (6.9 million tonnes) and India (3.2 million tonnes) alone generate an average of 20 million tonnes a year.
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While African countries such as Ethiopia do not produce enough electronic waste (50 grams per inhabitant per year, according to the Statista platform), over the years they have become open-air dumps for waste exported by European nations. The AfDB, powerless to prevent this export phenomenon, is trying to promote the development of the circular economy to encourage the reuse of user telephones and the recycling of end-of-life computer batteries within its member states, as is the case with the GEM programme it finances in East Africa.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi