40
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am honoured to welcome the participants of this august gathering
to Addis and to express
1
how pleased I am to join you today.
2
The topic of your discussion for this year’s gathering Green Economy and Structural Trans-
3
formation in Africa is an apt if not
provocative one. Many people
I am sure would agree
4
with you that the fundamental issue for us Africans is that of structural transformation of
5
our economics and not mere growth of our GDP. Green economy is however an altogether
6
different thing.
7
8
I am sure many Africans will ask what green economy has got to do with us.
We did not
9
create global warming and
nothing we do is going to affect its future trajectory much.
10
We are unlikely to be the source of new technology green or otherwise. So what indeed has
11
green economy got to do with us? Why should we think of
introducing green technolo-
12
gies which could be
more expensive than the alternatives? Why shouldn’t we simply
13
concentrate on growth and transformation
and leave the green thing to those who created
14
the problem in the first instance and
who can afford to embark on a new and largely un-
15
tried course?
16
17
I can think of three good reasons why green growth is and cannot but be an essential ele-
18
ment of Africa’s structural economic transformation and none of them have much to do
19
with what we as Africans
can or should do to mitigate global warming.
20
21
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
