Climate change, unstable geopolitics, and inequalities are the main concerns of African business leaders, according to Sanda Ojiambo, executive director of the United Nations Global Compact, or UNGC.
The findings came about through the UNGC’s Africa Business Leaders Coalition, a group of 55 companies that met to “proactively discuss, strategize, inspire private sector action around some of the world's pressing issues relevant to the African continent,” Ojiambo told Devex on the sidelines of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
She added: “This is the first time we have a group of African private sector leaders from north, south, east and west, collaborating on an issue such as this.”
The businesses are involved in sectors from construction to telecoms to medicine. These private sector voices are important because “they drive a lot of the economy, they drive financing, but they also are instruments to speed and scale for the transitions we need to see happen in the African continent,” said Ojiambo. They also act as strong advocates for investment opportunities in Africa, she added.
One discovery she discussed from the coalition’s meetings was “how easy it was to come to a consensus around what was important for business, and just the very strong recognition that there needed to be some proactive action around the climate crisis,” said Ojiambo.
She continued: “Collectively, all the leaders had faced some enormous form of challenge over the last two, three years and felt the need to build resilience … [they] were increasingly recognizing the vulnerability to the climate crisis.”
Connected to concerns around climate was worry over inequalities, “key to most developing emerging countries,” said Ojiambo. There was “recognition that, not averting the climate crisis will widen those inequalities.”
The company leaders also raised that “business and geopolitics are really inextricably linked,” said Ojiambo. “You could be sitting on one corner of the world but a political decision in another impacts your business or your supply chain or your inputs or your pricing and that was also a concern of theirs.”
Aside from convening businesses from across the continent, Ojiambo said the coalition works nationally to “bring them around the table of government or policy makers and discuss what the impact of [political decisions are] on their business and their operations and highlight that and see if they can find solutions, with governments.”
About the author
William Worley@willrworley
Will Worley is the Climate Correspondent for Devex, covering the intersection of development and climate change. He previously worked as UK Correspondent, reporting on the FCDO and British aid policy during a time of seismic reforms. Will’s extensive reporting on the UK aid cuts saw him shortlisted for ‘Specialist Journalist of the Year’ in 2021 by the British Journalism Awards. He can be reached at william.worley@devex.com.
