The second in a two-part series, this article considers ways that East African countries can strategically plan to avoid potential environmental and social harm as their economies diversify and industrialise.
It is a hard reality that efforts to diversify the economies of East Africa are likely to also generate an environmental cost, along with negative social impacts. However, this outcome can be mitigated if burgeoning secondary sectors are held to strict sustainability standards. The key will be using the appropriate tools to chart and enforce such a direction.
There are already various challenges facing environmental sustainability in these countries, including issues of land degradation, deforestation, slash-and-burn practices, water pollution and air quality deterioration. These environmental pressures will only increase as this already fast-growing region becomes the focus of more foreign direct investment. It will be essential to build capacity and infrastructure to mitigate and manage development-induced environmental and social impacts.
It will be necessary to strengthen waste management infrastructure and capacity as economies diversify.
In 2019, East Africa’s FDI inflow increased from USD5,7-billion to USD11,5-billion in just one year. This effective doubling of FDI was due mainly to China, whose investment in the region accounted for almost 60% of its FDI inflow – directed at the technology, manufacturing, and services sectors.
Significantly, there are world-renowned national parks which indicate an encouraging potential to apply the kind of regulatory frameworks necessary to preserve the environment.
Read the full article in Why Africa
