New Africa Sustainable Development Report Shows Urgent Need for Increased Financing for Development
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) today launched the Africa Sustainable Development Report (ASDR) 2024, at an event on the sidelines of the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in New York.
Expanded access to concessional financing for development, strengthened information and early warning systems, and urgent economic reforms are among the key recommendations made in the new Report, entitled “Strengthening the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: Effectively implementing sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions.”
The report provides an in-depth review of African countries’ progress towards five Sustainable Development Goals and their 32 targets to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The five SDGs examined are: eradicating poverty (Goal 1); ending hunger (Goal 2); combating climate change (Goal 13); promoting peaceful societies (Goal 16); and strengthening global partnerships (Goal 17).
The new study shows that Africa is on track to achieve only less than three of the 32 goals assessed in this report (ASDR 2024) and that setbacks have been recorded for eight of them, with slow progress or status quo for the remaining goals.
“Advanced economies have rebounded from the COVID-19 crisis, but many African countries face high debt, double-digit inflation and limited access to critical development and climate finance. Human Development Index disparities are widening between the highest and lowest-ranking countries, highlighting significant challenges across Africa despite some progress in recent decades,” said Claver Gatete, Executive Secretary of ECA.
Indeed, official development assistance (ODA) to Africa increased by 2% in 2023, but total ODA remains at 0.37% of donors’ combined gross national income, well below the 0.7% target agreed by UN member states. With little time left before the 2030 SDG deadline, most countries may fail to mobilize adequate resources to close their financing gap.
“African countries have made significant progress in important areas, but we are running out of time,” said Matthias Naab, UNDP Acting Deputy Regional Director for Africa. “It is imperative that we strengthen partnerships and seek innovative solutions to halt the current deceleration – and even reversal in some areas – and work more closely with African countries and people to get back on track towards our global goals and the Africa we want. This report is essential in that it paves the way for this critical acceleration.”
Africa has made progress in reducing poverty (Goal 1), despite setbacks caused by crises such as COVID-19, which have significantly increased poverty rates, with Africa accounting for more than half (54.8 per cent) of the world’s poor in 2022. Efforts are underway to strengthen social protection systems, which currently cover only 17.4 per cent of the population, although they remain well below the global average. Access to safe drinking water has increased on average from 68.7 per cent in 2015 to 72.9 per cent, and basic sanitation services now reach 52 per cent of the population, thanks to continued efforts to meet global standards.
Efforts to address hunger, undernourishment and stunting in Africa (Goal 2) are critical. Despite challenges such as rising hunger, which will affect 281.6 million people in 2022, an increase of 11 million from 2021, initiatives are underway to address these issues and require urgent support. Measures include improving agricultural investments and helping to strengthen food security.
Africa has shown remarkable resilience and commitment to combating climate change (Goal 13), and efforts to strengthen disaster risk reduction continue, although the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies in place remains at 29 out of 54 since 2015. Climate finance Action in Africa is critical, but only $29.5 billion has been mobilized of the $2.8 trillion needed between 2020 and 2030 to enable African countries to implement their NDCs under the Paris Agreement.
“Financing remains a challenge for Africa, requiring between $118.2 billion and $145.5 billion per year to implement the continent’s climate action commitments and nationally determined contributions,” said Dr Al Hamndou Dorsouma, AfDB’s Climate Change and Green Growth Division Manager.
“This requires that development partners step up their support, including by strengthening the public development bank system with a focus on improving productive capacities, infrastructure and human capital development. It is also important that African countries prioritize domestic resource mobilization through reforms such as digitalizing tax administration systems, implementing progressive taxation and leveraging digital payment platforms,” he added.
In terms of governance (Goal 16), some countries, such as Malawi, have taken significant steps to combat corruption. But corruption remains a significant challenge in many African countries, with stagnant progress and increasing cases of corruption. In addition, high illicit financial flows, totalling about $1.3 trillion in outflows and $1.1 trillion in inflows in 2020, continue to hamper the financing of key programmes and cost Africa about $88.6 billion annually.
The Report also highlights that significant data gaps remain in many countries on the continent and recommends that policymakers and academics include skills and capacity building in their priorities in order to have a more accurate picture of the status of countries’ achievements and needs in terms of inclusive and sustainable development.
“This new report highlights the commitment and progress of African countries, but it also highlights the challenges that remain to shape ‘the Africa we want’. It underscores the urgent need to accelerate sustainable development actions and the imperative for African countries to scale up their efforts and empower communities to achieve more inclusive growth. But it also clearly shows how innovative financing and strengthened partnerships are essential for countries to redouble their efforts,” said Monique Nsanzabaganwa, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union.
To access all the findings and read the full set of recommendations, please visit the Africa Sustainable Development Report 2024.
