FORMER South African president, Jacob Zuma, called for home-grown, Afro-centric solutions to the continent’s problems.
He was speaking in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, where he was a special guest at the first-ever Africa Voluntary Carbon Credits Market Forum (AVCCMF).
Zuma attended the event in his capacity as a board member of the Belarus-Africa Foreign Trade Association and patron of the JG Zuma Foundation.
“This inaugural Africa Voluntary Carbon Credits Market Forum exhibits and provides inspiration for Afro-centric solutions for African problems meaning that we as African nations are not spectators but participants in providing Africa solutions,” he told delegates.
“AVCCMF marks the beginning of the transformation agenda and puts Africa on an unprecedented developmental trajectory through voluntary people-centred participatory climate actions and leap forward for the Africa Agenda 2063.”
Zuma said the AVCCMF provides the opportunity for affordable, scalable solutions that can enable countries to leapfrog to cleaner atmospheres and more resilient economies.
“This forum envisages a great opportunity for Africa to use its natural resources to stimulate economic growth,” he said.
Zuma added Africa had a great opportunity to play a crucial role in saving the world through climate solutions while simultaneously opening space for African climate entrepreneurship, for innovative forward
thinking Africans.
“This groundbreaking event will certainly yield unprecedented potential to empower the African continent, and it is also going to change Africa’s participation in the global climate economy,” he said.
Though having 18 percent of the world’s population and a fifth of the total land surface of the earth, Africa is seen as a valued partner in helping developed nations to offset their carbon emissions statutory
requirements.
Zuma presented a 2-million carbon offsets cheque to be placed on the AVCCMF for sale, courtesy of the JG Zuma Foundation and BAFTA.
– CAJ News
