Browsing: Carbon tax

• Africa stands to lose up to $25 billion annually due to the direct impact of the EU Carbon Border Tax Adjustment Mechanism.
• With Africa’s energy deficit and reliance mainly on fossil fuels, especially diesel, the implication is that Africa will be forced to export raw commodities again into Europe.
• New carbon tax could severely impede Africa’s progress by penalizing value-added exports in industries such as steel, cement, iron, aluminum, and fertilizers.

In a stark warning, African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has raised concerns about the potential ramifications of the new EU carbon border tax on Africa’s trade and industrialization efforts.

Dr Adesina says that this tax could severely impede Africa’s progress by penalizing value-added exports, specifically targeting crucial industries such as steel, cement, iron, aluminum, and fertilizers.

The imposition of carbon tax would have a profound impact on the continent’s ability to compete in the global …

Climate change is hurting the world including Africa. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted that Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts, and it is weak on various angles including having less strong adaptation capacities, and high dependence on natural ecosystems for the livelihood of its populations.

As the world strives to set the greenhouse emissions to at least 1.5 centigrade –the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) argues that in all African regions, negative climate change impacts would progressively compound and lead to decreasing GDP per capita.

The warming scenarios entail losses by 2030 (as compared to a baseline GDP per capita scenario) that range from -0.6 per cent in Northern Africa in the low-warming scenario, to -3.6 per cent in Eastern African in the high-warming scenario.

However, in the current world where research and development as well as technological advancement simplifies life and …