(Newswire.net — November 5, 2021) — In face of the pressing issues with climate change, South Africa has been negotiating with wealthy nations to develop a package of climate finance they can change their economy focused on coal-mining to more sustainable resources. According to information published by The Washington Post, the rescue plan could tap into money coming from the United States and Europe, through multilateral lending institutions and private foundations.
In spite of the successful cases such as the South African, the continent has suffered from different waves of raw materials exploitation for the past decades. This is a particularly sensitive issue for entrepreneurs such as Franco Favilla, the founder and CEO of Seasif Holding. Until recently, Western multinationals have deliberately plundered the African territory of its raw materials, and such actions led to deep consequences both from an economic point of view, but, above all, from an ethical perspective.
Favilla stresses the fact that, oftentimes, these multinationals have ignored regulations in order to maximize profits. “They have been responsible for the violation of fundamental human rights — particularly of workers’ rights — and of international principles on the protection and safeguarding of the environment,” he explains.
The founder of Seasif stresses the fact Africa has been living in a battlefield where great world powers dispute for control over raw materials. “These are fundamental resources for the economy of today and tomorrow. The clash is being fought with no respect for the environment, and, therefore, for the health of the African people,” adds Favilla. The problem is that often national governments do not have enough economic or political strength to oppose and resist the situation.
In face of such injustice, companies like Seasif Holding have been working on projects that could revert the situation. For the past years, Franco Favilla has been working on new, ambitious development programs in Africa which have all their principles and strategies focused on topics such as sustainability, traceability, and full respect for human rights.
For that, Seasif created an ad hoc company department whose task is to, on one hand, assist local companies in the extraction and processing of raw materials, so that they make sure that the entire production chain is green and sustainable. “On the other hand,” adds Favilla “we work alongside national governments to ensure that they themselves sell raw materials directly in primary markets.”
Since the implementation of the initiative, Seasif has received positive response from the countries that have joined the initiative. “Many nations have already joined, especially in the central area of the continent,” explains Franco Favilla. “Traceability and sustainability are the only possible formulas to make the African continent independent from an economic point of view.”