Data, tech to drive inclusive growth for SDGS attainment
The utilisation of data for informed public decision making coupled with the adoption of new technologies are key towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) by 2030, development experts have said.
The experts spoke on Wednesday at the sustainability part three series webinar of Lafarge Africa, a leading Sub-saharan Africa building materials company, with the theme “corporate social investments, shared value and national development - which way forward?”
The webinar in its third series brought together diverse national and international stakeholders to discuss and create a national blueprint towards accelerating the achievement of the SDGS in Nigeria.
At the event, Maryam Uwais, special advisor to President Muhammadu Buhari on social investments, noted that technology was a critical sector that must be focussed on, especially in the achievement of inclusive growth
“The government has realised that it needs to partner with the private sector in the tech space and technology can do a lot in areas like education. We have seen a number of E-learning platforms coming in and a lot of young pole developing apps,” Uwais said.
She further added that certain parts in the society like the urban and semi-urban do not have inclusive growth. “They don’t have the infrastructure, so the disparity continues to grow and this is a structural problem.”
The SDGS, a collection of 17 global were adopted by all the United Nations (UN) member states in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
But the Covid-19 pandemic may halt the progress so far, to achieve the SDGS by the set time. According to a report by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the pandemic has unleashed an unprecedented crisis, causing further disruption to SDG progress, with the world’s poorest and most vulnerable affected the most.
Muhammed Yahya, resident representative, United Nations Development Programme, said that data plays an important role in guiding policy makers to facilitate social investments and mitigate the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It allows the government to make informed evidencebased solutions in terms of what to invest. The most update data and the largest people that have access to it are the private enterprises; that is why collaboration is very important,” Yahya said.
He further said, “And in the post pandemic era, where we will have scare resources, more people in poverty and hunger, using data and having evident based solutions will make a huge difference in solving these.”
According to the 2019 Sustainable Development Report, Nigeria ranked 159 out of the 162 countries on the SDG index.
At the second part of the series held last week, experts talked about how trust and mutuality can help drive impactful partnership for SDGS attainment.
Earlier in 2020, Lafarge Africa was ranked the fourth-best in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Company in Nigeria for the year 2019.
“I strongly believe that sustainable development in the big picture needs to move from being a passion to being a value because passion changes with the dynamics of the markets,” Khaled El Dokani, CEO, Lafarge Africa said.
He further said that companies should see CSR as a sustainable initiative that is driven by the organisations and carried from one generation to the other, management and one leadership to the other.
The fourth and last series themed “roadmaps to progressing the SDGS: opportunities in circular economy and science technology engineering and mathematics” is expected to hold on September 9, 2020.