AU Summit outlines roadmap to exploitation of US$2.8 trillion natural wealth
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) – The African Union Commission (AUC) has urged countries in the continent to stop “exporting jobs elsewhere” and rapidly exploit the US$2.8 trillion worth of natural wealth, which could in-turn generate US$6.8 trillion in the Gross Domestic Product.
The AU is approaching the need to conserve the environment as a step towards enriching the continent’s natural resource re-awakening, which should be followed by a series of measures to position the natural wealth like diamond and gold into big international brands.
“We want the real value for our natural resources,” Harsen Nyambe, the Director of Blue Economy and Sustainable Development at the African Union said in reference to low earnings from Africa’s massive gold, diamonds and critical jewelry exports to the rest of the world.
The AU is urging countries whose leaders are attending the continent’s first-ever Africa Biodiversity Summit to carry out a proper valuation of their natural wealth in order to develop a clear financial perspective of their hidden natural wealth as well as to properly brand produce.
It is time we developed clear maps on where the diamonds originated and more importantly, to have fewer co-brands, position your produce and work towards developing programmes that ensure sustainability of our conservation efforts so that it can be self-financing.
According to experts at the AUC, private and public partnerships should focus on enhancing access to innovative sources of finance for biodiversity conservation.
Apart from emphasising the need to develop local manufacturing capacity for local mineral produce, the continent should also lay more emphasis on the bio-economy, with a closer focus on the development of the fisheries, science and technology and innovation in healthcare.
A study on the equal benefits that could be obtained from the real investment in Africa’s biodiversity capacity in South Africa showed that the sector alone created 1.5 million jobs. It contributed US$438 billion in ecosystem services—the value that humans obtain from investment in biodiversity conservation such as clean air, water, food and flood control.
Moving forward, the AU plans to move towards sustainable finance mechanisms. This would include the AU doing a better definition of sustainable infrastructure finance-funding systems, which would support eco-friendly projects within cities in Africa.
Core ideas include the building of infrastructure that meets the needs of the population, without harming the future, using the green finance tools like bonds, balancing economic growth with social inclusion and environmental protection. The key funding mechanisms include green bonds markets being created as well as having more blended finance products, where countries are able to access a number of different financial packages rolled into one.
Experts have proposed to the AU the need to discover a mechanism that would make investment into agro-forestry and water tower conservation recoverable and payable. The experts say investment in nature must be evaluated for their financial value.
Clearly, Africa’s rich flora and fauna hides billions worth of funds to be invested and the benefits yet to be reaped due to the lack of mechanisms to determine which funds come in and how the continent would be able to attract foreign capital as commercial investments in conservation.
The AU affirms that 40 out of 54 countries have developed National Biodiversity Finance Maps, which is meant to assist them attract innovative finance from corporate investors through the green bonds, which experts now call, the “green financial engineering”.
A massive US$100 million would be required for investment in each country’s national biodiversity plan, where the governments of the continent, would be required to give subsidies to investors.
-0- PANA AO/MA 4Nov2025
