Growing demand for chemicals in Africa should go hand in hand with better chemical safety rules

Africa has the highest rate of population growth among major areas, according to UN estimates. While chemical production in Africa represents 1% of global sales now, growing population means more demand in products and therefore in chemicals in the next decades. The question is: how to make sure that this growth is matched by improving chemical safety rules.

While presenting the situation in Africa at the Chemical Watch Regulatory Summit in Brussels, Cefic Director Véronique Garny noted that only a handful of African countries had implemented the Globally Harmonised System (GHS) for classification and labelling of chemicals, which is considered the first step in sound chemical management. The vast majority of countries still lack even basic chemical legislation.

“As a member of the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) Cefic strives to ensure that people enjoy the same high standard of chemical safety regardless of where they live”, said Véronique Garny. “This is what we are trying to do through the UN-led framework (SAICM) – share best practices of sound chemicals management with emerging markets”.

Although the challenge is immense, some progress has already been achieved. Tunisia, Guinea and Ivory Coast are soon expected to commit to joining Responsible Care, a voluntary industry programme to improve safe production, handling and use of chemicals going beyond the basic regulatory compliance. South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Zambia are also keen on modernising their chemicals management systems as they increase their imports of chemicals or start attracting more investments into their growing local chemical production.

The EU could also play a role in promoting better chemical safety rules in Africa. “What could be effective moving forward is to include conditions for basic chemicals management in trade and development agreements between the EU and African countries”, concluded Véronique Garny.