AfDB Approves $21.3 Million Regional Chemicals and Waste Management Project in Africa
The African Development Bank Group’s Board of Directors has approved a groundbreaking initiative to tackle the challenge posed by hazardous chemicals, including Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and mercury, in 11 Least Developed Countries in Africa.
The ‘Scaling-up Investment and Technology Transfer to Facilitate Capacity Strengthening and Technical Assistance for the Implementation of Stockholm and Minamata Conventions in African LDCs – phase 2’ (AFLDC-2) project will, through a multistakeholder approach, address the urgent need for effective chemicals and waste management in Angola, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.
The project is the first of its kind by the African Development Bank and represents a major milestone in driving financing and innovation for sustainable chemicals management.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) will provide financing in the form of a $21.3 million grant. Co-financing will come from various projects supported by the African Development Bank across its urban, agriculture, and agro-industries portfolios in the participating countries.
Owing to limited regulatory frameworks, inadequate waste management infrastructure, and insufficient enforcement capacities, African LDCs grapple with the accumulation of POPs in the form of pesticides, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), and pollutants from open burning of waste. Additionally, mercury, a toxin, poses significant risks due to its widespread use in products such as batteries, lamps, dental amalgam fillings, among others.
Governments around the world increasingly recognize the risks that these highly hazardous and persistent chemicals—released through the intentional use of products and processes, including development of raw materials— pose to human health and the environment. This has led, in recent decades, to more robust regulation of their manufacture, trade, use, emission/release, and disposal through multilateral environmental agreements, including the Rotterdam, Stockholm, Minamata, and Basel Conventions, as well as the international policy framework of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).
By strengthening national capacities, advancing environmentally sound practices, promoting circular economy approaches, and prioritizing the sharing of experiences and lessons learnt at the national and regional levels, the ALFDC-2 project will seek to eliminate stockpiles of obsolete chemicals, reduce toxic emissions, and control waste pollution at source. The project will deliver far-reaching environmental and public health benefits, while supporting participating countries in meeting their obligations under the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions.
Gareth Phillips, African Development Bank Manager for Climate and Environment Finance welcomed the approval.
“The AFLDC-2 project marks a pivotal milestone in Africa’s efforts to tackle the challenges of hazardous chemicals and waste,” Phillips said. “As the African Development Bank’s first project financed exclusively under the GEF’s Chemicals and Waste Focal Area, we are proud to set this precedent and are optimistic that it will pave the way for many more to come. The Bank is honored to lead this transformative effort towards a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient Africa.”
