Professor Douglas Boateng, Africa’s first Professor Extraordinaire in Supply and Value Chain Management, has declared that “the destiny of the planet is no longer decided in parliaments or protest grounds, but in boardrooms.”
Delivering a keynote address under the theme: “The Green Horizon: When Boardrooms Decide the Fate of the Planet,” in Accra, Professor Boateng reminded global and African leaders that governance must now extend beyond compliance to conscience, arguing that industrialization and sustainability are inseparable twins.
“The Earth does not send invoices,” he noted and added that “but one day it will collect interest — with compounded consequences.”
He challenged policymakers, directors, and investors to embed Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles into corporate DNA, not as fashionable jargon but as measurable ethical obligations.
Quoting the IMF, Prof. Boateng said environmental degradation costs developing economies up to 5% of GDP annually, while in sub-Saharan Africa, climate-related disasters have pushed more than 30 million people into extreme poverty in the past decade.
“Every drought, every flood, and every polluted well is a receipt for governance failure,” Prof Boateng cautioned.
Citing the continent’s vast endowment of 60% of global solar potential and 30% of known mineral wealth, Professor Boateng lamented the irony that Africa still imports finished goods made from its own resources — often extracted at severe environmental cost.
“From Ghana’s poisoned rivers to Zambia’s abandoned mines, the tragedy is the same,” he observed.
He asserted that Africa can lead the world’s green industrial revolution if governance becomes disciplined, transparent, and long-term in vision.
He pointed to examples of progress that already exist in Africa as Kenya’s plastic ban cut marine waste by 70%; Ethiopia’s tree-planting drive which yielded 4 billion new trees; South Africa’s recycling sector which employs over 60,000 people and Ghana’s solar initiatives that can reduce household emissions by 30% by 2030.
Prof. Boateng said “These are not miracles but milestones and proof that when governance works, the environment wins.”
Professor Boateng described governance as “the conscience of capitalism,” warning that when conscience is outsourced, greed becomes policy and negligence becomes culture.
He added, “We plant trees for photo shoots, not for oxygen. We hold sustainability summits in hotels powered by diesel generators. We have become experts at public relations and amateurs at preservation.”
He argued that ESG is not a Western import but an African inheritance, rooted in the continent’s ancient principle of harmony between people and nature.
“True sustainability,” he said, “is not what we build — it is what we refuse to destroy.”
Professor Boateng has therefore urged governments, corporations, and academic institutions to make ESG measurable and enforceable through national legislation and establish green investment banks to finance climate-smart industries.
He has as well called for Reformed procurement systems to reward integrity and transparency and empower the youth to drive green innovation.
The renowned supply and value chain management expert however, cautioned
“If boardrooms fail, nations bleed. But if governance aligns with conscience, the Earth heals” stressing that “History will not remember our titles; it will remember the air our grandchildren breathe.”
Enock Akonnor is an experienced Ghanaian journalist, based in Kumasi and currently serves as the CEO and Managing Editor of www.leakyghana.com.
With a wealth of expertise built over many years in the media industry, he has earned a solid reputation as one of Ghana’s most sought-after journalists.
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