Environmental resilience and economic development in Africa [Opinion]

Environmental resilience and economic development in Africa [Opinion]

There is an exposure to some environmental hazards as the population grows in cities.
   
   
   
       
       
           
               
                   

There is an exposure to some environmental hazards as the population grows in cities.

               
           
               
                   

By Frank Nwoko

               
           
               
                   

Globally, the impact of climate change is evident. The environment it seems, is being pushed to its precipice and it is reacting. From wildfires in California to flooding in East Africa, from desertification of Northern Nigeria to rising temperatures in many parts of the world.

               
           
               
                   

What began as a scientific study in the late 19th century is increasingly becoming an existential challenge, that humanity needs to pay attention to.

               
           
               
                   

In Africa, the issue of climate change interestingly has more traction than many people will imagine. According to the United Nations, “As of April 2017, of the 143 countries that have so far ratified the agreement, 33 are in Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia. That is 60% of the total number of African countries.”

               
           
               
                   

Beyond the ratification, there is a lot of climate change consideration in the policy directions of the continent’s apex organisation. Agenda 2063, which is a set of economic and social aspirations by the African Union (AU), asserts the need for ecosystem restoration as a way to engender development.

               
           
               
                   

The strategic context for this must not be lost on the continent and I was impressed to see it at the forefront of the debate at the recently concluded virtual Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Summit, organised by the Century Group in partnership with the Lagos State Government.

               
           
               
                   

The need for an Africa-wide city and rural development masterplan was the context of a presentation made by the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi at the Summit, which was themed HSE in our DNA; Recycling to Wealth.

               
           
               
                   

Abayomi, a public health expert and one of Nigeria’s most recognised public figures in the fight against the COVID-19 virus, noted that data on population growth show that over the next 50 years, Africa will have to deal with a population that will be approaching 4.2 billion people, a situation that could provide existential challenges for the continent.

               
           
               
                   

Highlighting the backdrop for the need for environmental stability, Abayomi noted, “If we look at Nigeria, we have got a significant drying of the northern part of the country, forcing all kinds of factors and conflicts and we superimpose that on the global climatic change.

               
           
               
                   

"We more or less have an environment where we are contracting in our resources and yet we are at the potential of producing larger amount of waste. We also have the phenomenon of rural - urban migration, with Lagos being the biggest attraction. Lagos just seems to be the end point of rural-urban migration.

               
           
               
                   

"When you look at all these demographic factors, the outcome is a continent of megacities, something we already see happening clearly in West Africa and the entire continent.

               
           
               
                   

"This sets us up for major health toxicity and bio-security threats, just like we have experienced in the last 6 months, where Lagos and much of Africa have come under a very challenging situation with COVID-19.”

               
           
               
                   

With this demographically-induced emergence of mega-cities across Africa, there is an exposure to some environmental hazards as the population grows in these cities.

               
           
               
                   

Some of these hazards include; lack of infrastructure to cope with population growth especially in areas like waste management, insufficient clean water, wood and fossil driven-energy and its attendant impact on air toxicity and coastal water pollution (especially in a city like Lagos).

               
           
               
                   

All of these are threats to human development. While nature has a system of renewing the environment from toxicity, this resilience has continued to reduce in the last 100 years.

               
           
               
                   

Speaking on the toxicity profile of Lagos, Abayomi noted, “Every household or industry produces waste, which is not removed in the appropriate way. Every time there is a bit of rain, that waste, whether it is heavy metal from our discarded electronics or fossil fuel from our diesel generator or mobility, that all percolates down into the water aquifers and migrates downwards.

               
           
               
                   

"These go to the waterways underneath the surface of the earth. Our groundwater in Lagos has become toxic and almost unusable for domestic and livestock purposes. This has been made more so by some of the waste disposal practices.”

               
           
               
                   

On the responsibility of stakeholders to environmental sustainability, he noted that, “The minimum requirement for a healthy waste management system is to reduce and reuse our waste.

               
           
               
                   

"We need to have a very clear way of segregating our waste from biological to toxic heavy metals, radioactivity, plastic and industrial waste. We also need to go through a process of waste management, either pre-treatment, collection and storage in dependable containerised areas compatible with the content of the waste and then safe transportation to where those particular categories of waste can be professionally degraded or sequestered from the environment.”

               
           
               
                   

Africa’s progress towards a more efficient environmental management system should not just be viewed as a way to make the continent relevant in the international community.

               
           
               
                   

A more environmentally efficient Africa is one of the building blocks of long-term economic and social sustainability and must be given that level of attention. With the growth in our urban population, cities must be planned and developed to be resilient and viable.

               
           
               
                   

This is beyond just trying to look good in the global community. This is trying to build a continent with cities that will be livable in the near future.

               
           
               
                   

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*Frank Nwoko, an environmental economy enthusiast, contributed this piece from Lagos

Source: Environmental resilience and economic development in Africa [Opinion]

- gist culled from pulseng