Has Africa been proactive in implementing the goals and objectives of the SDGs and Agenda 2063? This question is an inquiry on kick-starting the Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 dialogue. The implementation of these agendas will require integration and collaboration guided by four universal elements:
Role of Government
African governments at the national and local level must align Agenda 2063 and the SDGs to the right policy framework including their political manifestos. This means integrating specific goals and desired outcomes into local priorities and strategies as part of a mid-term and long-term national development plan.
While most African countries like Kenya through the Vision 2030 and Rwanda Vision 2020 already had their thirty to fifty year development master plans in place prior to the ratification of the dual agendas, the inter-connectedness of these agendas provide an opportunity for re-alignment of national development frameworks. Rwanda has paved the way through the Rwanda Vision 2050 which has incorporated new global commitments such as the SDG’s Agenda 2030 and Africa Union’s Agenda 2063.
Stakeholders are important
The development of silo mentality occurs when key actors engaged in policy implementation do not share information, goals, priorities or tools resulting to divergent outcomes. Silo mentality present challenges which tend to be overlapping and self-defeating during the implementation of such noble goals and objectives.
The objectives of these dual agendas are cross-cutting which creates complexities that require the engagement of multiple stakeholders to maximize ownership and participation at all levels, after all development cannot take place in a vacuum. For instance, within the African context, a robust private sector can create jobs and through public private partnerships can mobilize the required financing for specific intervention areas specified in Agenda 2063 while government focuses on provision of public goods such as physical infrastructure which opens up new markets for the private sector to invest in.
A wide range of actors collaborating, communicating and interacting means wider priorities and targets can be met jointly.
Financing for development
According to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2014 it will cost a mind boggling 3.9 trillion dollars per year to invest in key Agenda 2030 sectors from the year 2015 to 2030. The current annual investments stands at 1.4 trillion dollars per year with the annual investment funding gap amounting to 2.5 trillion dollars.
While the cost estimates of attaining Agenda 2063 is not publicly available, the financing mechanism for Agenda 2063 has been articulated through the Agenda 2063 First Ten Year Implementation Plan (2014 – 2023). The Resource Mobilization Strategy seeks to ensure that funds are available for implementation at the national, regional and continental level. “Goal 20, Priority Areas 2 and 3 under aspiration 7 of the first Ten Year Plan sets targets / strategies for Member States to increase the quantum of domestic resources mobilized in real terms and also takes steps to minimize aid dependency and maximize benefits from partnerships”. To ensure implementation, the plan seeks comprehensive financing through innovative domestic resource mobilization and new partnership strategies for each intervention area at the three levels of implementation.
Policy makers, governments and civil society have participated in multitude of conferences to chart the way forward in development financing through the Financing For Development forum.This is an intergovernmental forum which seeks to review the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and other financing mechanisms to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa.
With limitations in public budgets, other financing mechanisms like the private sector will be required to compliment African government’s financing for SDGs and Agenda 2063.
Capacity Building
The people for whom the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063 should matter most to are likely unaware of these objectives and the implications to their bottom line. The World Bank reports that a disenfranchised population of 42.7% in Africa lives in extreme poverty and lacks access to meaningful employment and basic needs like health, quality education, water and sanitation services to live a life of dignity.
Capacity building amongst all actors to build awareness or knowledge is critical in attaining opportunities presented by SDGs and Agenda 2063. These opportunities include creating partnerships, financing for implementation, citizen engagement and mobilizing communities to take the lead through a myriad of little changes within the local context which add up to the whole.
In conclusion, the four key elements highlighted on this blog post provide a basic foundation for Africa to kick-start or bench-mark the necessary requirements for the attainment of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030. The purpose for this blog post is to spur thinking and converge ideas around the dual agendas in attaining sustainable development.
What other ideas do you think can facilitate the implementation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030? Let’s engage in the comment section.
Africa is possible!