Dakar, Dec 20 (APS) – The Ministry of the Environment and Ecological Transition (METE) launched a project called ”Promoting innovation in clean technologies for climate action in Senegal (Clean Tech Senegal) ”, to support and provide funding to Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups specializing in the search for clean technological innovations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Funded to the tune of 1.8 billion CFA francs, this project is being implemented within the framework of the Global Clean Technology Innovation Program set up by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in 17 countries including Senegal to encourage the dynamic of development of clean technology.
”The +Clean Tech Senegal+ project aims to promote and support our businesses, particularly SMEs and startups, in the adoption of innovative solutions to respond to climate challenges,” said Fodé Fall, secretary general of the Ministry of Environment and Ecological Transition (METE).
He spoke Thursday at the official opening ceremony of the first edition of the national forum on the promotion of innovation on clean technologies. This event, which is planned for two days, is part of the implementation of the +Clean Tech Senegal+ project.
He specified that ”the technologies to be supported within the framework of this project must correspond to local realities”. ”In other words, they must rely on the national socio-economic, cultural and political context to have any chance of prospering,” he added, favoring an ”innovative approach to transition to clean energy technologies and solutions”. ‘.
”Specifically, he said, this project aims to encourage technological innovation that has a low ecological footprint in strategic sectors such as renewable energy, waste management, sustainable agriculture, and water resources management”.
Beyond SMEs and startups, ”the project will support women and young entrepreneurs through training, financing and support adapted to their needs, so that they are key players in this green transition in Senegal, he added in the presence of several agents from the Directorate of Environmental Regulation and Control (DIREC), responsible for the national execution of this project.
”It also seeks to strengthen cooperation with our development partners, through joint initiatives, to facilitate access to green financing and support sustainable innovation projects,” he underlined.
He considered that this project must also serve as a ”catalyst for the development of clean technologies adapted to our realities and meeting our specific needs”.
According to him, ”this will make it possible to avoid resorting to so-called universal solutions to promote our ecological transition.”
Fodé Fall further indicated that the 2023 report on technology and innovation published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development revealed that “clean technologies have experienced meteoric growth over the last twenty years with a market volume estimated at 1,500 billion US dollars in 2020 and which could reach 9,500 billion US dollars in 2030.”
He deplored the fact that this fast-growing market is mainly driven by developed countries.
“Today, he said, it is time for Senegal and other developing countries to seize this opportunity to reduce poverty and underemployment while contributing to the overall effort to fight against climate change”.
He stressed that the consequences of climate change constitute one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. “Its negative effects on the economic and social development of communities no longer need to be demonstrated,” he said.
Opened Thursday in Dakar, this national forum on the promotion of innovation on clean technologies in Senegal ends on Friday.
Signatory to the Paris Agreement in 2015, Senegal has made clear commitments to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, in particular through the implementation of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), adopted in 2020, and promote, among other things, clean technologies with a low ecological footprint.
ID/AB
