EU roots for inclusive green economy in Uganda
The 2017 SEED East Africa symposium took place in Kampala, Uganda’s capital with the participation of the Head of Cooperation of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Uganda, Mr Cedric Merel, along with representatives from both Uganda and Kenya, including Uganda’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
SEED is a global partnership for action on sustainable development and the green economy established in 2002 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. The symposium was part of a multi-country project (covering Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and South Africa, in addition to Uganda) called “Promoting Eco-Entrepreneurship in Africa” and that is supported with a 1.5 M EUR grant (around 6.5 bn UGX) from the EU’s Switch Africa Green (SAG) programme.
The programme aims at fostering transition toward green growth through interventions on three levels: (i) provision of green services/advice to MSMEs; (ii) rising public awareness to promote sustainable consumption; (iii) creating a policy/legal/fiscal environment enabling green growth.
A highlight of the event was the SAG-SEED Awards Ceremony, which saw 6 innovative eco-inclusive enterprises from Uganda and Kenya honoured for their outstanding contributions to meeting local sustainability development challenges, thus helping bring about a cleaner and more sustainable future. The Ugandan SAG–SEED awardees are:
- Brent Technologies, which transforms waste motor oil into fresh oil;
- Gorilla Conservation Coffee, a social enterprise that pays a premium to coffee farmers living next door to the gorillas around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and supports them through training in sustainable coffee farming
- Masupa Enterprises, which turns organic waste into briquettes and distributes energy saving sto
Speaking at the awarding ceremony, Mr Merel stated that the European Union financial support to the project illustrates “the EU’s commitment to fostering Inclusive Green Economy, e.g an economy that can secure growth and development, while at the same time improving human well-being, providing decent jobs, reducing inequalities, tackling poverty and preserving the natural capital upon which we all depend.”
He also announced the earmarking of no less than 100 M EUR (400 Bn UGX) to supporting Inclusive Green Economy in Uganda in the coming years.
Read more about Switch Africa Green at http://switchafricagreen.org and SEED at: www.seed.uno.