ECA Seeks Integrated Approach for Africa’s Climate, Food, Energy Challenges

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), has called for an integrated approach to address Africa’s interconnected climate, food, energy and water challenges.

The deputy executive secretary for Programme Support at ECA, Mama Keita, in a statement, said this at a high-level dialogue in Addis Ababa.

Keita said climate shocks, rising debt pressures and tightening financial conditions were increasingly constraining growth across the continent.

She noted that Africa faced a financing gap of about 1.3 trillion dollars annually to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to her, climate shocks are already reducing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by up to five per cent annually in vulnerable African economies.

She also warned that disruptions in global supply chains were affecting energy and fertiliser flows, with implications for food prices and economic stability.

Keita stressed that Africa could no longer address development challenges in isolation, describing fragmented approaches as inefficient and counterproductive.

“We must move away from disjointed responses where sectors operate in silos and investments fail to reinforce each other,” she said.

She called for a Climate–Water–Energy–Food nexus approach to manage interconnections and build resilience across sectors.

The ECA official said integrated solutions would help maximise synergies, reduce trade-offs and accelerate progress toward development goals.

Keita said that while some progress had been made, integrated approaches remained limited across the continent.

She said the dialogue provided a platform to share experiences and identify scalable solutions for implementation.

Keita outlined three priorities: policy coherence, innovative financing, and investment in data and science.

She said stronger coordination across sectors would reduce inefficiencies and improve development outcomes.

She also called for increased use of blended finance, green bonds and improved domestic resource mobilisation to fund development.

According to her, addressing illicit financial flows estimated at 88 billion dollars annually will be critical to boosting available resources.

Keita emphasised the need for robust data systems and capable institutions to support effective planning and delivery.

She said Africa’s future would depend on how well countries managed the links between sectors rather than individual sectors.

“The nexus is not an option; it is a necessity,” she said.

Keita reaffirmed ECA’s commitment to supporting African countries through policy research, technical assistance and stakeholder engagement.