Senior officials of the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) Commission have pressed for fast implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.
The call was made during the opening of the 12th Session of Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development on Tuesday in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, under the theme “Turning the Tide: Transformative and Coordinated Actions for the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.”
Speaking at the event, Lok Bahadur Thapa, President, Economic and Social Council of the United Nations said around 600 million people in Africa, which is nearly 43 percent of the populations in the region, lack access to electricity, while many countries continue to face gaps in access to safe drinking water and other essential services.
“Africa faces a substantial financial gap between 670 billion to 848 billion U.S. dollars annually, driven largely by rising debt vulnerabilities, fluctuations in foreign direct investments, low domestic resource mobilizations, and sharply falling official development assistance,” he said, adding on Africa must to focus on domestic resources mobilisation to address its huge financing gap and achieve UN sustainable development agendas.
Claver Gatete, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said Africa’s progress towards the implementation of SDGs especially on water and sanitation, energy and infrastructure are slow and continue to worsen inequality across the continent.
“Despite progress in expanding water access systems, lack of safety, reliability and quality continue to constrain health, productivity and economic transformation across the continent. Gains in energy and infrastructure sectors also are not creating enough jobs and improving competitiveness,” Gatete said.
He said domestic resource mobilisation must be complemented by targeted efforts to attract private investments in Africa as the continent strives for addressing its infrastructure development gap through partnerships.
Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission said Africa has recorded notable progress in areas such as infrastructure development, regional integration, and digital transformation, particularly under flagship initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Haddadi, however, said the continent is facing several challenges especially in financing sustainable development, job creation, climate resilience, and addressing inequalities within and between countries.
“With less than five years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we must shift from incremental progress to transformational change. This requires: stronger policy coherence between continental, regional, and national frameworks; increased investment in critical sectors such as water, energy, infrastructure, and sustainable cities; enhanced partnerships across governments, the private sector, civil society, and development partners,” she said.
MG/as/APA