The Ogun State Government is joining governments across the world to seek ways of growing their economies without doing damage to the environment.
This process, known as Green Economy, involves adjusting policy options and business models, which will lead to higher economic efficiency and corporate responsibility.
Companies, guided by appropriate regulatory environment, are expected to pursue profit in more sustainable ways, making environmental and economic benefits equally important. These important goals, according to experts will also be achieve by creating green enterprises that tap into new markets with green products and services. Green jobs that aim at reaching sustainable levels are also important in this process, the Ogun State Government Officials said.
Some of such good practice will be presented at a two-day conference that would hold next Tuesday at June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun state. The conference would be of significance not only for Nigeria, but also for its neighbouring and other Africa countries as well as for the EU and other European countries, said the organisers. The Abeokuta conference is conceived to support Ogun State, and other Africa countries in confronting their environmental-development challenges in a most responsible way by creatively applying all the available knowledge and experience.
The conference is being organised by three agencies: the International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE), an inter-governmental organisation based in LjubIjana, Slovenia; The global mission of knowledge Economy Network (KEN) that motives policy makers as well as stakeholders, to play an active role in resolving practical issues of knowledge economy developments.
The third agency is UPLIFT Development Foundation, an initiative of the wife of the governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun. The foundation is committed towards uplifting the life of women, youth and the aged.
Green Economy contributes to reducing the harmful production method of enterprises, by reducing the energy and raw material consumption, avoiding greenhouse gas emissions, minimising waste and pollution, thereby contributing to an improved ecosystem.
The organisers said participants at the conference would attempt to determine the best possible contributions of government policies and NGO activities to the creation of the condition necessary for green growth; the most effective instrument of awareness-building on environmental issues and green growth – in order to secure full participation of all relevant stakeholders in the process of sustainable development.
They are also to determine the kind of regulatory environment that should be created to encourage domestic and foreign investors to be involved in green projects, and how to use Public Private Partnership as a model partnership. International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) is dedicated to efficient and productive public enterprise, promotion and development of entrepreneurship and efficient and socially responsible management with four decades of experience. The Centre aims to ensure quality and win-win based cooperation among its both member states, and local and international partners.
The global mission of knowledge Economy Network (KEN) also aims to contribute to international cooperation in increasing the awareness of critical importance of upgrading knowledge-based competitiveness through stronger partnerships in education, R & D, innovation and entrepreneurship.
UPLIFT Development Foundation, an initiative of the wife of the governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, puts focal points on the less privileged to boost their personal and economic development, rewriting their stories for the better. The foundation designs and implements empowerment programmes to ensure well-being of under privileged by making them self-sufficient and self-employed. One of the main goals of the foundation is the promotion of green economy by advocating through her Green Education For The Youth (GEFTY) initiative. Her desire is to see schools integrate the green values into school curriculum to assist our youth in cultivating and imbibing Green ideologies right from the start.
Purpose and Scope of the Conference
Africa, a continent with a vast array natural resources and the youngest population on the planet faces serious development challenges. The environment, probably the most important among the challenges, is linked to issues of energy, transport, waste management, climate change, deforestation, soil degradation and decline of biodiversity. In many areas there are also issues of population, lack of irrigation water, and threats of unsustainable urbanisation. The response to all these challenges is going green, whereby Africa can achieve sustainable development and leapfrog through the right choices and by effectively drawing on its vast resources, including the young and dynamic population, rapidly turning into valuable human capital, which is the crucial factor in the development process.
While searching for its own development paradigm, Africa should come up with original and innovative approaches, being aware of its potential and limitations, as well as benefiting form several good practice cases and experience from all corners of the world. Africa has the chance to avoid certain mistakes committed in the past by the industrialised countries.
Programme Structure
The programme is divided into two components: The first day, the conference will be divided into two parts: the morning event would be in a format of larger conference with bigger number of participants (60 – 100), including eminent political and other public personalities from Nigeria and West African countries, and around 10 from Europe. The afternoon part, a workshop, will be attended by a minimum of about 40-50 people, mainly from private and public business community, and experts of national and international background. While the conference is to build awareness of the potential of PPP for “going green” projects, and evaluate the importance of proper policy and regulatory environment, the second part will focus on specific recommendations to policy makers at all levels, and to cooperation stakeholders who should benefit from the implementation of the proposed conditions.
The second day will bring together potential partners from Africa and abroad – interested in developing PPP and other types of joint projects in Nigeria and neighboring WestAfrican countries. In the introductory part, conditions, including support for foreign investors in participating countries will be presented, while in the second part smaller groups and one-to-one meetings between potential partners would be organized. Registered participants will have the possibility to request individual meetings and visits to potential business partners during the conference, particularly during the second day.
Source: This Day
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