HARARE — The European Union has launched a major regional initiative to switch Eastern and Southern Africa toward a circular economy, bringing together EU member states and international partners to tackle policy, people, and finance gaps across the region.
Speaking at the official opening of the COMESA Green Industries Connect forum at the Harare International Conference Centre, Ms Lana Zutelija, Team Leader for Environment and Climate at the EU Delegation to Zambia and COMESA, announced the bloc's co-funded programme with Germany and its implementation partnership with France.
She said the EU was very proud to be co-funding together with Germany and also implementing with Germany and France, while extending thanks to the teams of GIZ and Expertise France for pioneering and pushing these efforts very strongly forward.
Three-pillar approach
Outlining the initiative's three-pillar approach, she said the programme focuses on policy, people, and finance, with specific attention to plastics and electronic waste as the major circularity challenges facing Africa, Europe, and the wider world.
On policy, Ms Zutelija called for enabling regulatory frameworks, particularly Extended Producer Responsibility rules, urging governments and institutions across the region to establish clear and enforceable frameworks.
On people, she emphasised the need to invest in workers, skills development, youth, and women, including technical and vocational education and training to build the workforce required for a circular economy transition.
On finance, she said without access to finance, there is not really much that can be reached and achieved altogether, underscoring that capital mobilisation is a precondition for the transition's success.
Coordinated action
Ms Zutelija also stressed the need for coordinated action across all levels of governance to unlock the continent's resource potential for the benefit of its citizens.
She said the region needs to do this altogether, connecting the national, regional, continental, and global level, adding that the EU is a very strong partner in this endeavour.
Highlighting the paradox of Africa's resource wealth, she noted that too much value is currently being lost through waste and exported without benefiting local communities.
She said Eastern and Southern Africa, and more broadly the African continent, is extremely rich in resources, and those resources need to be value-added locally for the communities and citizens.
She said too much waste is being lost, the value is gone, young entrepreneurs do not see the benefit of all these resources, and the value is being created elsewhere.
She emphasised that the EU is committed to reversing this trend by promoting local value addition accompanied by strong environmental protection, green industrialisation, economic growth, and job creation.
Circularity as a solution
Turning to circularity, Ms Zutelija described it as a practical solution to the region's economic and environmental challenges.
She said circularity brings a solution to this equation, helping to keep resources within the circle of production and consumption, reducing pollution, and most importantly reducing costs, which also matters to businesses.
She added that circularity brings new opportunities for youth, women, and the informal sector, which she noted is already at the forefront of recycling.
Ms Zutelija pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Area and COMESA as key vehicles for pioneering these opportunities at a scale that makes sense globally.
Global Gateway strategy
Reaffirming the EU's commitment, she explained that the bloc's Global Gateway strategy is the framework through which it interacts with partners at regional, international, continental, and worldwide levels.
She said this is the way the EU brings investment between the private sector, but never at the expense of the environment, never at the expense of natural resources, and never at the expense of the planet.
Ms Zutelija highlighted two afternoon sessions — one on turning circularity principles into policy and another on concrete circular business models — describing the day as an opportunity to showcase outstanding examples already emerging from African countries.
She said there are some outstanding examples on the African continent from pioneering countries who have been championing some of these examples, and others might want to follow them.
Call to action
Concluding with three key messages, she issued a direct call to action.
First, she urged regional governmental institutions to establish stable, predictable, and transparent regulatory frameworks that the private sector has repeatedly demanded.
Second, she addressed the private sector directly, saying it is the engine of pioneering and championing circularity and urging it to join the EU on this path.
Finally, she called for investment to be focused on the green side of the economy.
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