Financing gap threat to Africa's SDGs aspirations – President Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has advised African leaders to explore innovative ways of ratcheting up domestic financing for the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The continent’s commitment to the SDGs remained unquestionable, “yet, our efforts are consistently hampered by financing gap”, he bemoaned.

The President, in a keynote address at the SDGs Action Summit 2024 in Accra, cited recent estimates by the United Nations, which indicated that Africa required an additional US$1.3 trillion annually to achieve the SGDs by 2030.

“This shortfall is a substantial barrier to our aspirations of ending poverty, ensuring quality education, achieving gender equality, providing clean water and sanitation, and fostering sustainable growth across the continent.

“Having gone past the mid-point of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, and with progress falling far short of stipulated targets, the urgency to scale up and accelerate actions cannot be over-stated,” he emphasised.

To address the existential threats, the President rallied the continent to work assiduously to enhance the mobilisation of domestic resources by improving the tax collection systems.

The respective governments, in addition, ought to resolve combating illicit financial flows, and promoting a culture of accountability and transparency in public financial management.

“By broadening the tax net and ensuring efficient tax administration, we will increase revenue generation,” President Nana Akufo-Addo told the gathering.

He advocated strengthening governance and reducing corruption, saying that was imperative to ensure that resources were used effectively to support SGD initiatives.

The overarching objective of the two-day SDGs Action Summit is to ignite renewed commitment on the continent to the SDGs and to catalyse bold and collective actions for socio-economic transformation.

Specifically, it seeks to identify the binding constraints to the implementation of the Goals, and highlight the fundamental enablers to achieving success, including crucial policies and institutional imperatives.

The Summit will facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences, serve as a platform for sharing practical insights and lessons learnt and galvanise action on ‘quick wins’.

President Akufo-Addo said stakeholders should be conscious of the critical enablers that would bring about the requisite transformation being sought, including innovation, smart partnerships and innovative financing.

“We must be bold in our ambitions and unite with unwavering determination to scale up action on the SDGs- fully leveraging these enablers.

“We cannot be content with incremental gains…We urgently need to address poverty, protect our planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all.”

Highlighting Ghana’s firm attachment to the SDGs, the President stated that the Goals were deeply embedded in the country’s national policies and programmes.

Dr. Eugene Owusu, Special Advisor on the SDGs to the President of Ghana, described the Summit as critical in the journey to achieve the Goals, having just gone past the mid-point of the 15-year timeframe.

The Summit, among others, is designed to promote entrepreneurship, innovation and the adoption of emerging technologies to develop smart solutions to accelerate progress towards achieving the SDGs.

The expected outcome is to proffer practical, solutions-driven and results-oriented document that reinforces Africa’s united resolve to amplify and expedite advancements towards the SDGs.

This document is intended to serve as a significant contribution to the Pact for the Future.