As part of its ongoing support to the Government of Sierra Leone in its quest for green economic growth, the Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has produced the brochure Sierra Leone: Investing in Environmentally Sound Economic Growth. Aimed at donors and private sector investors alike, the 8-page booklet summarizes the green investment opportunities within Sierra Leone's recently launched 2013-2018 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, known as the Agenda for Prosperity.
Unfortunately, a number of the Agenda's planned green interventions are currently unfunded: the overall cost of implementing the plan is an estimated US $5.75 billion with a funding gap of US $2.1 billion. In light of this, the AfDB created a brochure to help Government attract investment for the green growth activities, in particular. "We reasoned that donors would jump at the chance to fund such an innovative and green poverty reduction strategy, if they could only understand the Government's plans and easily identify need and high-yield opportunities," explained AfDB Task Manager and Senior Climate Change Specialist Florence Richard. Thus Investing in Environmentally Sound Economic Growth was born.
The brochure includes an overview of Sierra Leone's vision for sustainable growth as well as the "business case" for investing in green growth now. The main element of the publication is a user-friendly table that displays the most exciting environmentally sound activities under the six Agenda pillars that are key for green growth - Diversified Economic Growth, Social Protection, Gender, Managing Natural Resources, Accelerating Human Development and International Competitiveness - as well as the funding gap, by pillar. Under each pillar, a selection of green interventions are described in detail to give investors a sense of the Government's commitments, as well as the expected impact and return on investment of each.
Investing in Environmentally Sound Economic Growth is the latest in a series of support measures that the AfDB has been providing to the Government of Sierra Leone. Last fall, the AfDB launched Sierra Leone: Transitioning Towards Green Growth; Stocktaking and the Way Forward, a comprehensive report outlining the key challenges and major opportunities for mainstreaming inclusive green growth into the Agenda for Prosperity. It was produced following a thorough literature review, technical analysis and extensive consultations with national authorities, development partners, private-sector representatives, and non-governmental organizations. It also benefited from inputs from AfDB managers and sector experts.
The Bank will continue to support Sierra Leone in implementing its green growth vision through the Bank's new Country Strategy Paper for 2013-2017. With adequate support from the AfDB and other partners, Sierra Leone will realize its commitments under the Agenda for Prosperity, placing the country on the path to becoming an inclusive, green, middle-income country by 2035.
