The Great Green Wall, land of hope and opportunity

2023-06-18 15:00:00

GRANDSTAND. The Sahel must not be forgotten at the Summit for the new financial pact to be held in Paris on June 22 and 23. That’s why.

By* Diane Binder, Eric Kacou, Stéphane Hallaire and Rekia Foudel

The Great Green Wall still has a long way to go. Yet it bears within it the seeds of a new regenerative mode of development that could simultaneously preserve cultural heritage, restore natural ecosystems, protect biodiversity and contribute to rural development.
© SEYLLOU DIALLO/AFP

Published on 06/18/2023 at 3:00 p.m.

Cis an unprecedented meeting that will be held in the French capital at the start of the summer around heads of state and government, heads of international organizations, representatives of civil society, foundations, financial institutions and the private sector. The goal? Rethinking the international financial system so that it is more responsive, fairer, more supportive, also changing the paradigm now, to fight against poverty and rising inequalities, to propose a growth model that allows us to act radically for the climate and the protection of biodiversity. In these international discussions, the Sahel is often forgotten. This region faces many complex and multifaceted challenges: extreme poverty, droughts, wars, political instability, terrorism, migration. In reality, these conflicts are not from elsewhere: they are ours since we are paying the price, that of inaction and willful ignorance.

READ ALSOGreat Green Wall in the Sahel: the challenges of the next decade

Why the Sahel should not be forgotten

Yet, for many of us, the Sahel is a land of resources, opportunities, and solutions. The Great Green Wall is its banner, carrying within it the seeds of a new mode of regenerative development, which makes it possible to preserve cultural heritage, restore natural ecosystems, protect biodiversity and contribute to rural development. Nowhere else has a restoration program had its own summit of heads of state and council of ministers.

READ ALSOSahel: the One Planet Summit sets sail for the Great Green Wall

Nowhere else has such a program been the subject of cooperation between 11 countries with common and ambitious objectives.

We founded the Private Sector Alliance for the Great Green Wall a few months ago at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. To the promises of international development banks, often recycled from one conference to another, we prefer an alliance of action and solutions. Together, we have the ability to contribute to the development of regenerative value chains: species endemic to the Sahel, such as moringa, baobab, gum arabic, shea or Balanites aegyptiaca (or desert date palm) have a strong potential for soil restoration and carbon sequestration, while being very popular on the international cosmetics markets ($240 billion) or superfood ($150 billion). However, the countries of the Sahel are struggling to reach 5% market share. We therefore mobilize our complementary expertise to develop restoration programs in conjunction with local communities, to support entrepreneurs and SMEs of the Great Green Wall through a mix of expertise and investments and to support buyers who wish to invest. or get supplies in the Sahel.

READ ALSOGreat Green Wall: “Creating Dreams and Hopes on the Continent”

The essential role of public funding must be reaffirmed…

All the objectives of the Summit for a New Financial Pact are summed up in our approach: we believe in the catalytic role of public funding to de-risk and attract private investment. We believe in smart capital, the right combination of value creation and financing adapted to the needs of the private sector and institutions committed to meeting this challenge. We believe in collaboration, commitment and the impact of collective, coordinated, effectively deployed and rigorously measured actions.

We call on public institutions and governments to use available and committed resources for the Great Green Wall (19 billion dollars have been announced since the One Planet Summit organized by President Macron in 2020!) in a concerted framework with the Agency pan-African for the Great Green Wall and its national versions, and towards a financial vehicle that makes it possible to combine public aid, private philanthropy and impact investments.

READ ALSOIn the Sahel, the Great Green Wall is gaining momentum

… alongside initiatives to attract private investment

We plan to mobilize 100 million dollars over the next five years, in order to raise 1 billion from private investors. We will thus be able to support 500 entrepreneurs in the Sahel who will have a direct impact on 250,000 rural people, mainly women, and restore nearly 1 million hectares of degraded land. Financing for development can no longer be a miserable equation using vocabulary from the past, such as “aid” or “beneficiary”. This involves co-investing alongside local communities, directing public funding to catalyse, incentivize and reduce the risks for private investors. As for the Great Green Wall, why not see it as a formidable pool of opportunities for creating well-being products and bringing environmental, societal and financial innovations that can inspire the rest of the world?

READ ALSODrought in France: meanwhile, the Sahel is greening again

* Diane Binder is president and founder of Regenopolis as well as director of the Alliance for the Great Green Wall. Éric Kacou is president and co-founder of Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners. Stéphane Hallaire is founding president of Reforest’Action. Rekia Foudel is CEO and founder of Barka Fund.