Transformative Change in Africa Possible if Sustainable Development Financing Is Ensured, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Multistakeholder Dialogue

Following is UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s message at the General Assembly’s Multistakeholder Dialogue on the Implementation of Commitments towards Africa’s Development, in New York, today:

It is a pleasure to participate today in this first United Nations multistakeholder dialogue on the implementation of commitments toward Africa’s development and present the findings and recommendations of the Secretary-General’s report on the topic.

In two months, the leaders of the world will gather here at the United Nations to take stock of eight years of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and provide the necessary political impetus to achieve our common ambition by 2030.

We are not on track.  But we are still on time to revert the trend if decisive action is taken in key areas.  Today’s dialogue aims to contribute to this objective.  The first step to advancing in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda is to acknowledge shortcomings, identify the bottlenecks that have prevented the implementation of commitments and reach a common road map to unblock our progress.

In line with this approach, the Secretary-General promoted the reconfiguration of the United Nations Monitoring Mechanism that the General Assembly established in 2012 to transform it into an effective tool that supports the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.  To this end, the Monitoring Mechanism focuses now on analysing the hindrances that are impacting progress toward the achievement of the 2030 Agenda in the continent.

The first report prepared under this new methodology that we are to discuss today assesses the progress made in financing for development, our SDG 17, and the energy goal, SDG 7.  The findings in both areas are concerning:  commitments are far from being delivered.

In the case of financing for development, despite the consensus that accompanied the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, most of its areas of action have seen limited achievements.  This has impacted all means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda, including financing for development.  Shortcomings in this area are caused by internal and external factors.

From the point of view of internal factors, the lack of efficient and transparent mechanisms to support revenue administrations and public financial management results in hundreds of billions lost every year in illicit financial flows and inefficiencies.

The absence of efficient administrations lowers the trust of financial stakeholders and increases the risk of SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) investments in the continent, driving up the cost of debt servicing and limiting African countries’ fiscal space.

From the external perspective, internal factors are compounded by an unfair international financial architecture that keeps African countries in a marginal position, making them more vulnerable to debt distress.

The challenges in the mobilization of resources limit the capacity of African countries to undertake massive investments needed in critical areas such as energy access.  Turning to the case of energy, the report highlights that almost 600 million people continue not to have access to sustainable energy in Africa and identifies two main challenges.

First, energy infrastructure is insufficient.  The penetration of the electrical grid does not respond to the distribution of the population across the territory, creating vast differences between urban and rural areas.  Furthermore, the quality of the infrastructure and transmission capacities does not ensure the reliability of the service.

Second, poor regulatory frameworks and limited planning processes have a major impact on energy financing and affordability.  The absence of data undermines investment in energy projects.  Deficient utility governance regulations lead to high costs and take-up rates, considerably limiting energy access.

As the COVID-19 [pandemic] highlighted, energy is an essential component for achieving resilience.  And resilience is indispensable to ensure the sustainability of development efforts.  Without resilience, the next global crisis will revert all the progress we make in the coming years, in the same way that the pandemic undid in just one year development gains obtained through decades of hard work.

This is a gloomy picture.  But the good news is that the solution to most of these challenges is within our grasp.  We don’t need to reinvent the wheel.  Five steps can help us revert the current negative trend.

First, we have to advance in the strengthening of institutions.  The digitalization of domestic resource mobilization systems is a good way to increase the effectiveness of country systems.  This is a tool that has demonstrated its impact.  For example, Angola increased its customs revenue by 44 per cent in one year after digitalizing its customs process with the support of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Second, we need to increase our efforts to build reliable policy and regulatory frameworks.  This will generate trust and, together with stronger domestic resource mobilization systems, de-risk SDG investments and crowd in the private sector, which is an indispensable actor in financing development.

Third, we need to support data-based energy planning exercises in all African countries, to maximize the impact of our efforts based on the actual circumstances of each African country.

Fourth, we need to increase technological transfers, technical cooperation and official development assistance (ODA) flows toward institution-building.

And fifth, we have to reform the international financial architecture to provide African countries with breathing space in the short-term through the SDG Stimulus, reallocating unused SDRs (special drawing rights) and reforming global governance structures.

Together, we can transform energy into a driver of SDG implementation in Africa and achieve transformative change if we ensure the sustainability of development financing.

I encourage us all to rally behind these priorities to achieve the Africa we want, leaving no one behind.  I am looking forward to a fruitful discussion and the outputs of this meeting in September this year.  Thank you.