“I turned my passion into a vocation. Every day, I measure how lucky I am to be able to work in a respectful relationship with nature”. A fan of trekking and hiking since his youthful years, Mohamed Adnene Bezzaouia is now the principal environmental officer at the African Development Bank (AfDB).

“Trekking is a state of mind, a desire to discover and share unforgettable moments with others. It is to discover the world by adapting to the conditions, to encourage encounters while respecting the populations and their environment”, detailed, in the AfDB website, Adnene, whose values ​​have naturally led him to s orient towards development professions.

He thus found his professional path in several institutions concerned with promoting inclusive and green growth in Africa in order to improve the lives of populations, in a safe and sustainable environment. With, each time, a careful examination of the actions envisaged by the countries in order to manage the potential impacts of the projects on the social and environmental level. This is the whole purpose of the African Development Bank Group’s integrated safeguards system, which is one of the cornerstones of its strategy in this area, the AfDB reported in the same source.

Years earlier, the environmental expert was a consultant for a major institutional development actor. Missioned in an African country, he assessed the environmental and social impact of a road project which was initially to cross hundreds of hectares of virgin forests, with the risk induced in its initial design, of affecting some of the protected species as well than the cultural heritage of the people.

“As is always the case in our profession, we are faced with a dilemma: on the one hand, supporting project managers for a rapid and efficient deployment of operations; on the other hand, to ensure that the operations respect the environment and the populations in their area of ​​intervention. The whole thing is to find the crest line, the point of balance,” added Mr. Adnene.

To remove doubts and misunderstandings in this type of situation, the spirit of advice and support must prevail over that of control and inspection. In this case, convincing people of the need for a road route bypassing the forest was not easy, as this alternative would lead to delays and additional costs, which might compromise the proper conduct of the project. It’s all regarding fine negotiations that include the difficult equations and their resolution: Adnene nevertheless succeeded in satisfying all the parties – project owner, public authorities, environmental protection NGOs, populations. The road has been built on the edge of the forest.

At the African Development Bank, notes the site, the Results Measurement Framework, designed to measure and increase the Bank’s impact on development, is a real beacon of the social and environmental footprint of operations. In practice, it is a matter of finding the best approach that reconciles the interests of all the stakeholders – including the populations, public actors and donors – so that development is the most sustainable and the most inclusive. With three key words: consult, anticipate and operate in the interest of populations and their environment.

Faced, on the one hand, with the effects of climate change, Africa must take up, on the other hand, the challenge of development that respects the environment. At COP15 on biodiversity(link is external), held last December in Canada, the African Development Bank, in a report launched with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), highlighted the important role of multilateral banks development in achieving biodiversity goals: providing advisory services, building capacity, conducting market research and building relationships with other relevant partners.

Adnene shares this observation and these proposals, while affirming that “the preservation of the environment is everyone’s business. Through their action, everyone, on a daily basis, contributes to it at their level. »

Moctar STAYED / VivAfrik