FG seeks partnerships to deliver 2030 sustainable development agenda

The Federal Government has re-affirmed commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a post-COVID era.

The government also sought for partnerships between public and private sectors, development partners, scientific community, and the wider civic society to deliver the 2030 Agenda for sustainable Development.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, who spoke at Lafarge Africa Sustainability Webinar Series, on the theme ‘The Decade of Action: Advancing the SDGs in a post pandemic era’ said “ no single entity can do this alone. We need the expertise and financial resources of all.”

According to her, the Lafarge Africa Sustainability Series is in line with idea of the Private Sector Advisory Group on SDGs, which is to create a strategic platform for galvanizing ideas, mobilizing expertise and financial resources in support of the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria.

“Financing sustainable development is not just about mobilizing capital for specific projects and programmes. It is equally about ensuring the organized private sector becomes adapted to financing for sustainable development, by altering the way in which private finance operates so that its own processes are both sustainable and support sustainability,” she said.

Orelope-Adefulire, represented by Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Bala Yusuf, stressed that funding remains a critical challenge to overcome. As such, there is need to work fast in scaling-up efforts to expand the fiscal space for SDGs implementation in Nigeria.

In this ‘Decade of Action’, she said, there is need to look into ways of mobilizing additional resources and minimizing wastage in the application of scarce public resources. “There is need to draw on non-traditional sources of public finance – Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), impact investments and strategic Bonds as appropriate.”

Orelope-Adefulire further called for judicious use of the re-aligned National Statistical System (NSS) to effectively track and monitor the implementation of the SDGs on annual basis. This, she said will inform targeted SDGs’ interventions across the country.

She also sought for the conscious use of the Nigeria Integrated Sustainable Development Goals (iSDGs) simulation model to develop the next National Development Plan (2021-2025) and support the domestication of the Planning Model across the 36 states.

Other recommendation made is the design and implement the Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFF) for the SDGs and working closely with state and non-state actors to cascade and strengthen advocacy for the SDGs across the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

“This will provide a snap-shot of all the existing and potential financing sources for the SDGs in Nigeria, and unlock innovative financing mechanisms to support the implementation of the SDGs.

The Chairman, Lafarge Africa Plc, Ade Adfioye, said the company’s sustainability strategy is focused on four pillars: climate and energy, circular economy, environment and community, adding that despite that the impact of COVID-19, their commitment to sustainability is absolute.

The Country Chief Executive, Lafarge Africa Plc, Khaled El-Dokani, said, the Sustainability Series is a four week long engagement, which will focus on “what we need to do collectively to achieve more measurable impact and accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals.

“It also affords an opportunity to share best practices for adoption in Nigeria and agree collectively how we can jointly progress the SDGs from the decade of action.”
Recall that in September 2015, World Leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a successor development framework to the Millennium Development Goals. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development envisions a present and a future that is economically sustainable, socially inclusive and environmentally resilient.

This vision is expressed through the 17 SDGs; 169 targets and 230 Key Performance Indicators. Put it simply, the SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, safeguard the planet and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by the year 2030.