Bad governance making it difficult for Africa to develop - Nana Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has posited that the story of Africa’s hitherto inability to develop is primarily the story of bad governance and our damaging colonial heritage.

Speaking at a high level Africa round-table meeting on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, President Akufo-Addo charged leaders to make governance and our governance systems work for the eradication of poverty and the creation of prosperity and wealth.

President Nana Akufo-Addo stressed that as African leaders embark on this path, they must commit to building accountable and transparent institutions.

He also said it will take selfless and empowering leadership, smart and progressive policies, as well as the empowerment of Africa’s women to ensure the full implementation of the SDGs in Africa.

He urged the leaders of the African continent to commit to making sure that the SDGs are implemented in their various jurisdictions.

The Roundtable Discussion The roundtable discussion has as its specific objective to define fundamental enablers to achieving success in implementation of the goals at the Africa regional level and country levels.

It is also a call to ignite action and mobilise regional support for the implementation of the goals, propose practical, smart and innovative actions needed to underpin their accelerated implementation.



The six main issues that the discussion focused on were; the policy, institutional and structural levers to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs in Africa; the capacities needed for appropriate data collection to support the monitoring and evaluation of support of the progress made in the implementation of the SDGs; optimisation of infrastructure, technologies and innovation as drivers for accelerating the implementation of the SDGs; innovative approaches to mobilizing resources to finance the SDGs and optimising the role, expertise and resources of the private sector.

The others are targeting actions of a “quick win” nature to accelerate the empowerment of women towards achieving the SDGs and opportunities for sharing best practices in the implementation of the SDGs and defining a strategy to scale up such practices.