EU carbon tax could cost Africa $25bn, AfDB chief says
Africa could lose as much as $25-billion annually due to the European Union’s new carbon border tax, hurting the continent’s trade by penalizing valued-added exports such as iron and fertilizers, African Development Bank Group president Akinwumi Adesina said.
The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism is a tax on carbon-intensive goods such as fertilisers, cement, iron, steel, and aluminium imported into the region. It’s meant to encourage companies to adopt better clean-energy technology and prevent production of carbon-rich goods outside the EU.
“With Africa’s energy deficit and reliance mainly on fossil fuels, especially diesel, the implication is that Africa will be forced to export raw commodities again into Europe, which will further cause de-industrialization,” Adesina said in an emailed statement Thursday.
“Africa has been short-changed by climate change; now it will be short-changed in global trade,” he said.
South Africa has also spoken out against the effects of the EU’s tax.
“The introduction of the carbon-adjustment measures by the EU undermine equity and the development of trade initiatives,” National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai on Wednesday. “It can be detrimental and discriminatory in outlook towards the struggling economies, particularly on developing and underdeveloped countries.”
Comments
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation