Climate Challenges: Making the Transition in Africa a Success
Conclusion Due to the economic catching-up specific to develo-
ping countries, the African continent will continue to experience strong economic growth in the coming decades,
but its development pathway will have to combine two objectives: improving the living conditions of its popula-
tion while taking climate challenges into account. As we have seen, these two objectives are not incompatible
because the continent has abundant resources it can use to minimize the carbon intensity of its growth (particularly in the energy sector). Another advantage is that Africa will
continue to benefit from rapid technical progress in the
fields of renewable energy generation and storage. Lastly,
the continent is less subject to the lock-in effects observed in many emerging countries because much of its stock
of physical capital is yet to be built. However, reconciling human development objectives with taking action to
deal with climate challenges requires defining appropriate
policies, particularly in terms of land development, urbani-
zation and agricultural development in a continent that
faces significant population growth. Reconciling these objectives also requires the full mobilization of financial
players, especially development banks. They will play
a decisive role in directing financing flows towards the
investments needed for a development pathway that respects human needs and the constraints imposed by climate challenges.
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