IVORY COAST. Abidjan. The Head of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina has stressed the need to protect the Sahel region through investments in the Great Green Wall project.
Akinwumi Adesina was speaking at the One Planet Summit, the Great Green Wall Summit held virtually on January 11th.
The Great Green Wall is an ambitious project which aims to enhance protect the Sahel region from the effects of climate change.
“The future of the Sahel depends on the Great Green Wall. In the face of climate change and desertification, the Sahel may disappear”, said Adesina.
He further said his bank has allocated $6.5 billion for the support of the Great Green Wall project for the next five years.
In addition, the AfDB also launched a $20billion Desert to Power programme, to build a solar zone in the Sahel.
This project will ensure that 250million people have access to electricity.
France’s President, Emmanuel Macron and Prince Charles of England were in attendance.
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Aim of the Project
A programme which started in 2007, the Great Green Wall hopes to end not only environmental degradation, but it will also fight conflicts and mass migration to Europe.
Conflicts, drought and mass migration to Europe have been challenges rocking the Sahel, located on the southern edge of the Sahara desert.
Expected to cover a distance of 8,000 kilometres the Great Green Wall is expected to be the greatest living structure on Earth.
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