Africa policy experts have called on the G20 to back Africa’s efforts to develop by aligning global trade and investment frameworks with inclusive green industrial development.

The joint G20 input paper, titled 'Improving Green Competitiveness for Inclusive Transformation', outlines how Africa can leverage green growth not only as an environmental necessity but also as a powerful engine for competitiveness, job creation and long-term prosperity.

Green competitiveness must be built through inclusive, demand-driven policies, anchored in regional priorities and supported by global partnerships based on mutual benefit, say researchers from policy research organisation the African Future Policies Hub, public-private collaboration platform the Leadership Group for Industry Transition and research organisation the World Resources Institute.

They call on the G20 to facilitate this transition by reforming investment incentives, encouraging regional pilots and creating policy coherence across trade, climate and industrial development agendas.

Green industrialisation presents a transformative opportunity, not only as an environmental imperative, but also as a pathway to global competitiveness and long-term prosperity, and Africa is well positioned to seize this green growth, especially through renewable energy and transition mineral value chains, the researchers state.

However, realising this potential demands coordinated policy, access to concessional finance and regional integration to scale local value creation, they add.

Further, green industrialisation is a complex undertaking and context-dependent, as it encompasses multiple dimensions essential for driving a new green growth paradigm. It requires systemic collaboration across sectors and borders.

This complexity makes enhanced collaboration among stakeholders, activities and resources, within a broader production ecosystem, crucial for enabling access to knowledge, skills, demand, finance and value creation, they say.

“For example, renewable energy and transition mineral value chains, if effectively leveraged, can serve as a foundation for new industrial models. Realising these benefits will, however, require market shifts, coordinated policy efforts and global partnerships grounded in mutuality.”

REGIONAL DIMENSION
The untapped potential of green industrialisation can be widened through regional integration, the creation of larger markets and the development of localised industrial agglomeration, they note.

However, inclusive green initiatives must be strategically targeted and embedded within strategic value chains that have the potential to expand industrial capacity. Existing regional initiatives can be harnessed to design pilot projects that are scalable, they recommend.

Meanwhile, the scale and nature of financing mechanisms and investments play a crucial role in targeting and shaping green transformation pathways.

“Coordinated access to sufficient, highly concessional and patient capital is essential for any green industrialisation strategy, especially amid rising debt levels and climate-related vulnerabilities across nations.”

Investments in green technologies and sustainable infrastructure should promote inclusive growth and serve as a catalyst for creating productive and decent green jobs, they add.

Achieving globally inclusive energy transitions and green industrialisation demands shifts in both thinking and policy. A central shift required is the reimagining of global green value chains and adopting a strategy of cooperative green competitiveness, the research organisations state.

Major economies are focused on securing transition minerals supply chains for the energy transition. But, to ensure these supply chains are sustainable and equitable, they must deliver meaningful benefits to developing countries and not repeat past patterns of resource exploitation.

Partnerships that are both economically viable and create value are pivotal for harnessing the collaborative potential of industrial clusters.

With governments' constrained fiscal space, limited institutional capacity and sectoral expertise to undertake sizeable investment programmes, forging partnerships of different shapes and forms becomes essential, they highlight.