When it Comes to Fighting Climate Change, the Future is African

While Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change, it could also hold the solution to the crisis, reports Nafeez Ahmed

Lucy Jarju works to catch fish in the mangroves of the Gambia river in Serrekunda, Gambia. Photo: Associated Press/Alamy 

After visiting the Gambia last December – one of the most vulnerable countries in Africa, if not the world, to the devastating impacts of global heating – I realised that while the world needs to understand the tremendous challenges being faced by people on the ground across this continent, what really needs to be understood is Africa’s vast potential.

I spoke with community and faith leaders from nine African countries during my trip. Through these conversations, I learned first-hand how the ‘uninhabitable planet’ that climate scientists warn will come if we don’t change course, is in fact already here in cities like Banjul, the beleaguered Gambian capital on the frontline of the global warming crisis.

Yet I also learned that this is only one side of the story. The far more significant story is that countries like Gambia are in prime position to lead the world to a bold new era of clean energy superabundance. The countries of Africa, I believe, can together become a global solar superpower within the next two decades.