Leaping Africa to the new economy

Faire émerger l’Afrique dans la nouvelle économie

Where is the challenge? Who are we? What do we want to accomplish?

Africa is the last continent where scalable development is a huge
expectation and potentially represents the next chapter in the economic
success of the planet. The challenges the continent faces are herculean
and every challenge is an opportunity of a similar weight.
At the same time, the very notions of economic success and development
as understood by our contemporaries must be revisited and gradually are
greeted with new social, environmental and technological considerations.
In our view, the world is embracing a postindustrial economic transition
toward a ‘new’ economy based on three (3) pillars:
Vision: A clean, inclusive and connected Africa where each human being is
a full economic agent.
Mission: Climate for Africa is an incubator of programs and projects that
help leap Africa to a clean, inclusive and connected economy.
Approach: We combine our intimate knowledge of Africa’ realities with
the discernment of existing and future opportunities to conduct programs
and projects that provide an added value to Africa.
To do that, we use our T matrix in the choice of our actions:

- (1) Clean: the transition from a fossil fuel economy to a clean economy - Horizontal Axis - Our focus areas
where energy efficiency, renewable energy, environmental finance and Talent Management
the dematerialization of services prevail - where mitigation / adaptation Research and Intelligence
to both the climate and the intensity of natural resources use is key. Capacity Building
- (2) Inclusive: the transition from business models that solely offer Vertical Axis - Our preferred subjects
products / services to the top percentile of the wealthy towards more Clean
inclusive or tailored models where the disadvantaged are employees, Energy Efficiency
suppliers and consumers of products/services - encouraging sustainable Environmental Finance and Carbon Markets
consumption patterns - with the private sector as a full citizen in society Renewable Energy
with amplified responsibilities Dematerialization of products and services
- (3) Connected: From an Internet restricted to the web to an Internet
which, associated with other technologies spill over unto the public Inclusive
infrastructure (transport, healthcare, utilities), offers smart services to Inclusive Business Models
citizens and accentuating the era of knowledge workers. Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility
We would love to help leap Africa to this 'new sustainable economy'. Connected
Adoption / Acceleration of useful technologies
Mobile for Change

PS: This matrix would be reevaluated on a periodical basis to account for

future trends.
 What projects / initiatives we intend to make happen? (Tempting list 2011-2014)
ACTIONS
Nurture a Talent Base
Achieve Africa! Program
Council + African fellows +
Incubation Center
Directory of African talents in
sustainability professions
Sustain Corps Placement Program
African Scholarship Program in
Sustainability and Carbon careers
Capacity Building Program for
African government officers
Expanding our knowledge
African Portal on ‘green’ and
climate issues
Online library of innovative
financial solutions for Africa +
Summit on Financial Innovation
Observatory for the transfer of
clean technologies to Africa
Online Library on Africa
environmental legislation
Smart Policy for Africa Assessment
Center
Strengthening our capacity / supporting other players
Capacity Building for African
institutions of higher education
Creating synergies with existing
players/ Facilitating the emergence
of new players where needed
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Achieve Africa! Program identifies and supports a cohort of 10 Africans every year with the most promising and transformative ideas for a
Sustainable Africa
We bring together key African decision makers under the Achieve Africa! Council on a 1-on-1 mentorship program
We immerse them in a 6-month study tour program including visits, conferences, internships, and leadership sessions
We bring them in-house to work on their ventures in our incubation center and assist them in making it happen.
A reason why African soccer national teams became great occurred when we knew where the talents where. We would identify all
expatriated and local talented students and young African professionals – profile them and wherever possible provide incentives to their
work.
Place MBA/MSc students and young professionals from prestigious universities (Aspen Top 500 ...) as energy efficiency, water
management, sustainability fellows with African corporations for short (3 months) or long term periods (1 year)
Collaborate with universities worldwide to host African students willing to pursue a sustainability/carbon mgt. academic track
A residential program for African government officers working for Sustainability (environment, waste, urban planning ...) to strengthen
their capacities and networks
Education portal for the African Public raising awareness on sustainability issues and spreading good case practices (local and alien) for
mitigating/adaptating to climate/resource intensity issues.
A free online library where are documented all financial engineering solutions to finance cleantech, energy efficiency and sustainability
programs to assist corporations, government agencies and the citizen sector.
Initiate a bi-annual Summit on Environmental and Carbon Finance Innovation to adopt or re-engineer financial products / services
consistent with Africa needs and opportunities
A virtual map to locate existing needs or opportunities – to track the transfer of clean technologies to Africa
A free online library with the environmental legislation of the 53 African countries, continuously updated
A pro-African and pan-African center offering an independent assessment on the added value of policies and studies enacted for Africa by
International, multilateral institutions and agencies
Introduction/strengthening of academic curriculum on carbon/other sustainability disciplines
Mobilize partnerships with other universities worldwide
Facilitate industry or cross-industry partnerships (e.g. The African working group on Sustainable commodities, the African working group
on insurance for climate change) / Facilitate the emergence of new players (e.g. The African Network of Carbon/ Sustainability
Professionals)
Founding Team of CLIMATE FOR AFRICA

The main founders

Richard Seshié (Côte d’Ivoire)

Richard Seshié has collaborated with three world-class organizations: Ashoka India (on social
Entrepreneurship); Innovest Group (on socially responsible investment) and Microsoft (as
Community Affairs Coordinator for North Africa).
He personally founded 'My Choice! » one of the first privately-led educational programs on
environmental sustainability in India, since replicated in both Canada and Pakistan. Richard is
considered the top contributor and a reference on sustainable development topics from Business Week Business
Exchange, the social network of the American business review. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography from the
University of Côte d’Ivoire, is certified on corporate social responsibility by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
and is a member of the Association of Sustainability Practitioners, U.K. More on his resume –
www.linkedin.com/in/sustain.

Dr. Robin Wyatt (U.K.)

Robin Wyatt is a social research and evaluation consultant, and holds a PhD in social sciences from
the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, U.K. He has
experience of 66 countries across all of the world’s continents, including several in Africa, and has
worked in the developing world for five out of his nine years of social research experience. His
clients have included the World Bank (India and the U.K.), the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
(U.K.) and ex-US President Jimmy Carter’s Carter Center (U.S. and East Timor). More on his website
(http://www.robinwyatt.org) and in his professional brochure
(http://www.robinwyatt.org/brochure.pdf).

Available Members

 Melissa Nfedt (South Africa) – BA (Hons) in International Relations from the University of Cape Town,
Member of the Golden Key International Society, British Council ‘Global Changemaker’
 Constant Kansé (Burkina-Faso/Ivory Coast) – Master in Marketing from the International Institute of
Management, Ouagadougou, Marketing Consultant for Rural Energy Consultancy SARL Burkina Faso
 Adeniyi Adeyemi (Nigeria) – Procter & Gamble Nigeria (CSR Department), ex-President of AIESEC Nigeria
 Julie Virgin (USA) – BA (Hons) in International Relations from Long Island University, My World! My Choice!
Green Mentor, India
 Mari Sawai (Japan) – MSc in Political Economy of Late Development from the London School of Economics
and Political Science, Climate Change Policy Intern at the Japanese Ministry of Environment.