African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment, H.E. Moses Vilakati, has called for greater investment to accelerate the implementation of Africa’s Great Green Wall, stressing the need to move the continental initiative from ambition to tangible impact.
Vilakati made the remarks on Monday at the high-level side event, “Restoring African Landscapes, Restoring Hope,” held on the sidelines of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The event focused on scaling the Great Green Wall through continental integration and implementation of the African Union Great Green Wall Initiative Strategy 2024–2034.
In a statement shared following the event, Vilakati said Africa’s Great Green Wall was ready to move “from ambition to investment, and from investment to impact”. He emphasised that restoring degraded landscapes should not be viewed solely as an environmental undertaking, but as an issue with wider economic, social and security implications for the continent.
His remarks came as African countries and development partners seek to strengthen financing and implementation of the Great Green Wall, Africa’s flagship land restoration programme. According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the initiative aims to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land across the Sahel and beyond by 2030.
The African Union has identified financing as a critical issue in scaling the initiative. The high-level side event was convened by the African Union Commission in partnership with the UNCCD, African Development Bank, Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall and the Southern African Development Community Secretariat. The meeting brought together policymakers, development finance institutions, investors and other partners to explore financing mechanisms and partnerships for implementing the continental strategy.
The UNCCD programme for COP17 describes the Great Green Wall as a major platform for nature-based solutions, climate adaptation, ecosystem restoration and green jobs. The initiative is also being positioned within a broader continental framework aimed at strengthening policy and financing coherence while supporting concrete restoration results across the Sahel and other parts of Africa.
Vilakati’s intervention comes against the backdrop of growing efforts to address land degradation, desertification and drought across Africa. UNCCD says the continent faces significant land and drought challenges, while initiatives such as the Great Green Wall demonstrate the potential for restoration to support livelihoods, resilience and sustainable development.
The discussions at COP17 therefore place financing and implementation at the centre of Africa’s land restoration agenda, with the African Union seeking stronger partnerships and investment to translate the Great Green Wall’s continental ambitions into measurable results on the ground.
No comment