Africa’s Great Green Wall Project Back on Track

The Great Green Wall of Africa, a robust plan to grow an 8,000km natural green zone to bring life back to Africa’s degraded landscapes is now back on track.

The Great Green Wall project was not considered a priority for many of the African Union decision-makers. After a decade of the initiative, only about 15% of the goal was reached, mainly due to lack of funding and donations.

With the latest injection of $14.3 billion US dollars in new funding from the African Development Bank, World Bank, and France, the program is expected to reach about 40% of its goal. It is estimated that $33bn is needed to complete the Great Green Wall by 2030.

The GGW initiative aims to restore over 100 million hectares of degraded land and to create at least 10 million green jobs by 2030.

As of 2021, through the GGW program in less than a decade, over 12 million drought-resistant trees have been planted in Senegal, over 28 million hectares of degraded land restored in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

The Great Green Wall is More Than Growing Trees

• Growing a new world wonder across the entire width of Africa
• Growing fertile land, one of humanity’s most precious natural assets
• Growing a wall of hope against abject poverty
• Growing food security, for the millions that go hungry every day
• Growing health and wellbeing for the world’s poorest communities
• Growing improved water security, so women and girls don’t have to spend hours every day fetching water
• Growing gender equity, empowering women with new opportunities
• Growing sustainable energy, powering communities towards a brighter future
• Growing green jobs, giving real incomes to families across the Sahel
• Growing economic opportunities to boost small business and commercial enterprise
• Growing a reason to stay to help break the cycle of migration
• Growing sustainable consumption patterns, to protect the natural capital of the Sahel
• Growing resilience to climate change in a region where temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else on Earth
• Growing a symbol of peace in countries where conflict continues to displace communities
• Growing a symbol of interfaith harmony across Africa
• Growing strategic partnerships to accelerate rural development across Africa

Please visit The Great Green Wall website for more information